Production of X-ray diagnostic apparatuses in Russian industrial facilities in collaboration with foreign manufacturers

Abstract

Domestic medical industry is 10-20 years behind industrially developed countries in the development of Xray devices based on high technology [i]. Also, 70-80% of the X-ray diagnostic apparatuses, photoroentgenographs, and mammographs used in medical practice are depreciated and obsolete. This was one of the main reasons for the adoption of the Federal Program of Development of Medical Industry for the period 1998-2005 by the Government of the Russian Federation. The Program determines both immediate prospects and priorities of domestic medical industry. Particular emphasis is placed on the introduction of recent advances of domestic and foreign science and technol'ogy into the manufacture of medical devices. As a part of this program, 4 domestic manufacturers concluded an agreement with Phitips Medical Systems Co. for serial manufacture of several medical devices developed by this company. The list of medical devices was approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. The contract came into force in 1993. It specified 3 stages of collaboration: stage 1, supply of ready-made devices manufactured by the Philips Company; stage 2, assembly of devices from parts supplied by the Philips Company; stage 3, assembly of devices from parts supplied by domestic manufacturers, with the exception of several key components (radiator, X-ray generator, etc.). The goal of this work was to illustrate the intermediate results achieved in the process of fulfillment of the contract by the example of one of the domestic manufacturers, the Biomedical Engineering Department of the Scientific-Research Institute of Electronic Engineering (Istra, Moscow Region). According to the contract, two X-ray diagnostic apparatuses are manufactured by the Biomedical Engineering Department of the Scientific-Research Institute of Electronic Engineering. These are the MD-RA mammograph (it is similar to the MD UC apparatus of the Philips manufacture assembled at the Department in the second stage of collaboration) (Fig. 1) and the SD-RA X-ray apparatus with an adapter for tomography (similar to the CD1 apparatus assembled in the second stage of collaboration) (Fig. 2).