Pieces Of Medical Equipment Research Articles

Look Behind Me! Highly Informative Picture Backgrounds Increase Stated Generosity Through Perceived Tangibility, Impact, and Warm Glow.

In this study, we investigated whether background information of a visual charity appeal can influence people’s motivation to donate and the hypothetical amount donated. Specifically, participants were presented with a charity appeal to help a local hospital respond to the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) emergency depicting a man sitting on a bed in a hospital room. The number of visual details (i.e., medical equipment) depicted in the background was manipulated according to three conditions: (1) “High information” condition (i.e., a room full of medical equipment), (2) “low information” condition (i.e., room with few pieces of medical equipment), and (3) “no information” condition (i.e., non-contextual background). We investigated whether the number of visual background details would have increased the tangibility of the cause measured as the hospital’s adequate preparedness to deal with the COVID-19 emergency and severity of the patient’s medical conditions. We also investigated whether increased tangibility, elicited by a higher amount of background information, would heighten participants’ perceived impact of their donation and warm glow, which in turn would have led to increased motivation to donate and the amount donated. We found no significant direct effect of condition on the donated amount. However, path models revealed that more background information positively influenced participants’ motivation to donate and the amount donated indirectly through increased tangibility, impact, and warm glow. Finally, we showed that a higher risk perception of COVID-19 was associated with higher donations. Results are discussed in line with relevant literature.

Effect of deploying biomedical equipment technician on the functionality of medical equipment in the government hospitals of rural Nepal

BackgroundMedical equipment plays a crucial role in the provision of quality healthcare services, despite this more than 50% of equipment in developing countries are non-functioning due to a lack of appropriate human resources to maintain. To address this problem some government hospitals of Nepal have deployed a mid-level technical cadre called 'Biomedical Equipment Technician' (BMET). This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of deploying a BMET on the functionality of medical equipment in government hospitals of rural Nepal.MethodsWe used a mixed-methods approach with a comparative research design. A comprehensive range of 2189 pieces of medical equipment at 22 hospitals with and without BMET were observed to assess their functional status. Medical equipment were stratified into 6 categories based on department and T tests were conducted. We collected qualitative data from 9 BMETs, 22 medical superintendents, and 22 health staff using semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions. Thematic content analysis was conducted to explore how the BMET's work was perceived.FindingsThe quantity of non-functional devices in hospitals without BMETs was double that of hospitals with BMETs (14% and 7% respectively, p < 0.005). Results were similar across all departments including General (16% versus 3%, p = 0.056), Lab (15% versus 7%, p < 0.005) and Operation Theater (14% versus 5%, p < 0.005). Hospitals with BMETs had fewer overall non-functional devices requiring simple or advanced repair compared to hospitals without BMETs [3% versus 7% (p < 0.005) simple; 4% versus 6% (p < 0.005) advanced]. In our qualitative analysis, we found that BMETs were highly appreciated by hospital staff. Hospital workers perceived that having a BMET on staff, rather than twice-yearly visits from central-level maintenance technicians, is an effective way to keep medical equipment functional. However, without a favorable working environment, the BMET alone cannot perform optimally.ConclusionsHaving a BMET at a rural government hospital has a substantial positive effect on the functional status of medical devices at the hospital. BMETs should be deployed at all rural hospitals to increase the functionality of medical devices, thereby improving the working environment and quality of health services provided.

Status of Medical Devices and their Utilization in 9 Tertiary Hospitals and 5 Research institutions in Uganda

Backgrounds and Objective: Advancements in technology have led to great strides in research and innovation that have improved healthcare provision around the world. However, the majority of the technology available is underutilized in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the ever-increasing sophistication and cost of medical equipment means that access and proper use is limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There is, however, a general paucity of well-documented evidence for the utilization of medical equipment in LMICs. Therefore, this study evaluates the current availability and utilization of medical equipment in tertiary hospitals and research facilities in Uganda and provides baseline information to clinical/biomedical engineers, innovators, managers, and policymakers.Material and Methods: The study evaluated the equipment currently used in 9 purposively selected public tertiary hospitals and 5 research laboratories representing different regions of Uganda. Data were collected by personnel specialized in biomedical engineering utilizing a mixed-method approach that involved inventory taking and surveys directed to the health workers in the designated health facilities. Results: The hospitals contributed 1995 (85%) pieces of medical equipment while the research laboratories contributed 343 (15%) pieces amounting to 2338 pieces of equipment involved in the study. On average, 34% of the medical equipment in the health facilities was faulty, and 85.6% lacked manuals.Discussion and conclusion: Although innovative solutions and donated equipment address the immediate and long-term goals of resource-constrained settings, our study demonstrated several issues around existing medical devices, and these need immediate attention.

Protocol for Usability Testing and Validation of the ISO Draft International Standard 19223 for Lung Ventilators.

BackgroundClinicians, such as respiratory therapists and physicians, are often required to set up pieces of medical equipment that use inconsistent terminology. Current lung ventilator terminology that is used by different manufacturers contributes to the risk of usage errors, and in turn the risk of ventilator-associated lung injuries and other conditions. Human factors and communication issues are often associated with ventilator-related sentinel events, and inconsistent ventilator terminology compounds these issues. This paper describes our proposed protocol, which will be implemented at the University of Waterloo, Canada when this project is externally funded.ObjectiveWe propose to determine whether a standardized vocabulary improves the ease of use, safety, and utility as it relates to the usability of medical devices, compared to legacy medical devices from multiple manufacturers, which use different terms.MethodsWe hypothesize that usage errors by clinicians will be lower when standardization is consistently applied by all manufacturers. The proposed study will experimentally examine the impact of standardized nomenclature on performance declines in the use of an unfamiliar ventilator product in clinically relevant scenarios. Participants will be respiratory therapy practitioners and trainees, and we propose studying approximately 60 participants.ResultsThe work reported here is in the proposal phase. Once the protocol is implemented, we will report the results in a follow-up paper.ConclusionsThe proposed study will help us better understand the effects of standardization on medical device usability. The study will also help identify any terms in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Draft International Standard (DIS) 19223 that may be associated with recurrent errors. Amendments to the standard will be proposed if recurrent errors are identified. This report contributes a protocol that can be used to assess the effect of standardization in any given domain that involves equipment, multiple manufacturers, inconsistent vocabulary, symbology, audio tones, or patterns in interface navigation. Second, the protocol can be used to experimentally evaluate the ISO DIS 19223 for its effectiveness, as researchers around the world may wish to conduct such tests and compare results.

Primary Salvage Survey of the Interference of Radiowaves Emitted by Smartphones on Medical Equipment.

Use of mobile phones has become a standard reality of everyday living for many people worldwide, including medical professionals, as data sharing has drastically helped to improve quality of care. This increase in the use of mobile phones within hospitals and medical facilities has raised concern regarding the influence of radio waves on medical equipment. Although comprehensive studies have examined the effects of electromagnetic interference from 2G wireless communication and personal digital cellular systems on medical equipment, similar studies on more recent wireless technologies such as Long Term Evolution, wideband code division multiple access, and high-speed uplink access have yet to be published. Numerous tests targeting current wireless technologies were conducted between December 2012 and March 2013 in an anechoic chamber, shielded from external radio signals, with a dipole antenna to assess the effects of smartphone interference on several types of medical equipment. The interference produced by electromagnetic waves across five frequency bands from four telecommunication standards was assessed on 49 components from 22 pieces of medical equipment. Of the 22 pieces of medical equipment tested, 13 experienced interference at maximum transmission power. In contrast, at minimum transmission power, the maximum interference distance varied from 2 to 5 cm for different wireless devices. Four machines were affected at the minimum transmission power, and the maximum interference distance at the maximum transmission power was 38 cm. Results show that the interference from smartphones on medical equipment is very controllable.

Seismic rehabilitation objectives and a simplified seismic evaluation and design programme for medical equipment in hospitals

From the experience gained from recent earthquakes, it has been recognized that the earthquake resisting capacity of so-called responsibility hospitals for acute services in Taiwan should be upgraded. These hospitals, which have been tasked with the provision of emergency services after major earthquakes, should remain functional with regard to their structures, medical facilities, electricity and water supply, and information services. In order to facilitate the issuing of governmental policies and practical engineering services regarding the seismic upgrading of hospitals, the objective of this paper is to determine the seismic rehabilitation objectives of essential medical equipment and non-structural components in responsibility hospitals, and further, to propose seismic evaluation and strengthening guidelines. Owing to the onerous work required to improve the seismic performance of various nonstructural components, a simplified programme is established using Microsoft Excel software to execute a preliminary seismic evaluation and retrofit design for individual pieces of medical equipment. Users are asked to fill in blanks with hospital information and the parameters of selected equipment and then the programme identifies the performance objective of each piece of equipment. It also determines whether the equipment should be retrofitted or not. In addition, preliminary designs of post-installation anchor bolts for seismic retrofitting against specified seismic demands can be checked automatically by the programme.

Equipment in anaesthesia and critical care

Daniel Aston, Angus Rivers, Asela Dharmadasa: Equipment in Anaesthesia and Critical Care. Scion Publishing Limited, 2014, 404 pp., ISBN 978-1-907904-05-9. In Equipment in Anaesthesia and Critical Care authors Daniel Aston, Angus Rivers, and Asela Dharmadasa aim to present a structured overview of basic underlying principles, mechanics, physics, and clinical application of technical equipment used in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. According to the authors, the book is primarily intended for physicians preparing for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists examination. Numbering 404 pages, this textbook offers a comprehensive overview in 13 chapters covering the technical background of most of the equipment used in daily clinical practice in the fields of anaesthesia and critical care. While Chapters 1 to 8 are dedicated to explaining equipment used in perioperative anaesthetic care (medical gases, airway equipment, breathing systems, ventilators, delivery of anaesthetic agents, monitoring equipment, filters and humidifiers, regional anaesthesia), Chapter 9 covers aspects of intensive care medicine including – among others – intravenous lines, monitoring equipment, and extracorporeal organ support. In addition, there are chapters on surgical equipment relevant to anaesthetists and radiological equipment used in the care of surgical or ICU patients. At the end of the book, the authors present several sample Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists questions. Using a pragmatic approach with a standardised format for each section of the different chapters explaining the different pieces of medical equipment, the authors have been able to present a concise, well-arranged, and easy-to-read textbook giving an excellent overview of medical devices used in the operating theatre and the ICU. Throughout the textbook, each section is uniformly arranged as follows: Overview, Uses, How it Works, Advantages, Disadvantages, and Safety. The book is very richly illustrated with photographs and coloured illustrations explaining the equipment, as well as diagrams and line drawings helping to understand basic technical principles, normal values, and clinical application of the devices. While Equipment in Anaesthesia and Critical Care gives an excellent, in-depth overview of technical and mechanical principles of the different devices, clinical applications and pathophysiologic considerations are not the primary scope of this technical textbook. In addition, the book could be even more informative for the academic reader if the authors provided references to scientific articles on the different devices. Altogether, this textbook offers an excellent detailed overview of basic principles, mechanics, and physics of technical equipment used in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. Equipment in Anaesthesia and Critical Care will therefore not only be very informative for physicians preparing for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists examination, but also for anaesthetists and intensivists aiming to understand the technical background of devices frequently used in their field.

Anatomist and the pioneer of radiology Étienne Destot--95th anniversary of his death.

Destot was a leading pioneer in radiology, a pupil of Ollier, an anatomist, and researcher who followed in the experimental medicine tradition of Claude Bérnard. This work is an extensive, in depth, look at the life and work of Étienne Destot. On February 5, 1896, he began performing X-ray examinations, less than two months after Roentgen's discovery! His pioneering work described a space bordered by the hamate, capitate, triquetrum, and lunate; this space is now known as Destot's space. Tanton stated that Destot was the first to reveal the mechanism of fractures of the posterior margin of the distal tibia and to emphasize their clinical relevance; in honor of this contribution, Tanton named such a fracture the “fracture of Destot.” Moreover, Destot is credited with being the first physician to use the term “pilon” in the orthopedic literature. He first described fractures of the scaphoid in 1905. He also described superficial hematomas, Destot's sign, located above the inguinal ligament or in the scrotum or thigh. Such hematomas are indicative of pelvic fractures. Destot is credited with inventing or improving many pieces of medical equipment (e.g., Lambotte's screw plates, anastomotic boutons for the digestive tube, monopolar endocavital radiological tubes). He was also active in developing technical aspects of equipment (e.g., radioscopic examination of the heart, a prototype of the mobile radiological laboratory). Étienne Destot is best known as a radiologist; however, his influence extends well beyond this field. He was an anatomist and surgeon, the founder of radiology in Lyon, prosector, physician, electrician, researcher, and artist.

Home User Survey: Medical Device Labeling Instruction Information

<i>Home User Survey:</i> Medical Device Labeling Instruction Information

Improving Quality Control In Medical Equipment Inventory

Improving Quality Control In Medical Equipment Inventory

Designing Effective Alarm Sounds

Designing Effective Alarm Sounds

Evidence-based approach to the maintenance of laboratory and medical equipment in resource-poor settings

Much of the laboratory and medical equipment in resource-poor settings is out-of-service. The most commonly cited reasons are (1) a lack of spare parts and (2) a lack of highly trained technicians. However, there is little data to support these hypotheses, or to generate evidence-based solutions to the problem. We studied 2,849 equipment-repair requests (of which 2,529 were out-of-service medical equipment) from 60 resource-poor hospitals located in 11 nations in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Central America. Each piece of equipment was analyzed by an engineer or an engineering student and a repair was attempted using only locally available materials. If the piece was placed back into service, we assumed that the engineer's problem analysis was correct. A total of 1,821 pieces of medical equipment were placed back into service, or 72%, without requiring the use of imported spare parts. Of those pieces repaired, 1,704 were sufficiently documented to determine what knowledge was required to place the equipment back into service. We found that six domains of knowledge were required to accomplish 99% of the repairs: electrical (18%), mechanical (18%), power supply (14%), plumbing (19%), motors (5%), and installation or user training (25%). A further analysis of the domains shows that 66% of the out-of-service equipment was placed back into service using only 107 skills covering basic knowledge in each domain; far less knowledge than that required of a biomedical engineer or biomedical engineering technician. We conclude that a great majority of laboratory and medical equipment can be put back into service without importing spare parts and using only basic knowledge. Capacity building in resource-poor settings should first focus on a limited set of knowledge; a body of knowledge that we call the biomedical technician's assistant (BTA). This data set suggests that a supported BTA could place 66% of the out-of-service laboratory and medical equipment in their hospital back into service.

Analysis of neonatal health in South Asia

PurposeNeonatal healthcare is a critical issue in public health management. The purpose of this paper is to analyze neonatal health in South Asia. This paper specifically examines the neonatal period of an infant's development, the time from birth to the first 28 days, and the importance of providing each newborn with the necessary vaccines, treatments, and care they may require. In addition to examining neonatal health and those diseases/problems that afflict children without proper care, a closer look will be taken at Southern Asia, where research shows nearly 75 percent of the neonatal deaths that take place in the world, occur.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive literature review using recently published works, government documents, and organizational reports is employed. The research is based on case studies of six South Asian countries and several international participating agencies and non‐governmental organizations working on the improvement of neonatal health.FindingsThe research shows that the majority of the countries in this region lack the funds necessary to provide aide, health services, and other preventative care to their populations. Without the global attention, intervention, and resources provided by these organizations, any progress made in the area of neonatal health in these regions will continue to be hampered. A social marketing framework designed to address this critical public health challenge is presented.Originality/valueIn the modern world, much advancement has been made in terms of neonatal and maternal health and well‐being. As the years have passed, the world has seen many improvements on clinical procedures, health policies and regulations, the quality of training for doctors, nurses, and related specialists, and the various pieces of medical equipment used throughout those hospitals and clinics located within the developing world. Unfortunately, data provided by various research efforts have shown that neonatal mortality continues to occur at high rates throughout countries in South Asia. Individuals in these countries lack access to health care, health education, and other essential components that influence a mother's ability to produce a healthy child and keep that child safe and illness/issue free throughout this fragile period.

Investigations of the Quality of Hospital Electric Power Supply and the Tolerance of Medical Electric Devices to Voltage Dips

Medical devices driven by electric power have come to be commonly used in hospitals, and rapid changes of voltage or current can easily cause them to fail. A stable and high quality power supply is indispensable in order to maintain safety in the modern clinical setting. Therefore, we investigated the quality of the power supply in a hospital and determined the tolerance of 13 pieces of medical equipment to voltage dips. The results showed little distortion of the voltage wave. However, we found an approximately 7% momentary voltage dip caused by lightening and other problems, such as 2 to 5% periodic drops in voltage and voltage wave distortions caused by incorrect grounding. In a tolerance test, the settings of some medical devices were changed at the time of automatic reboot after a disturbance. For another device, trend information was initialized.

Evaluation of Bluetooth as a replacement for cables in intensive care and surgery.

In today's intensive care and surgery, a great number of cables are attached to patients. These cables can make the care and nursing of the patient difficult. Replacing them with wireless communications technology would facilitate patient care. Bluetooth is a modern radio technology developed specifically to replace cables between different pieces of communications equipment. In this study we sought to determine whether Bluetooth is a suitable replacement for cables in intensive care and during surgery with respect to electromagnetic compatibility. The following questions were addressed: Does Bluetooth interfere with medical equipment? And does the medical equipment decrease the quality of the Bluetooth communication? A Bluetooth link, simulating a patient monitoring system, was constructed with two laptops. The prototype was then used in laboratory and clinical tests according to American standards at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. The tests, which included 44 different pieces of medical equipment, indicated that Bluetooth does not cause any interference. The tests also showed that the hospital environment does not affect the Bluetooth communication negatively. Bluetooth, a new radio technology transmitting at 2.4 GHz, was tested in a clinical setting. The study showed that a single Bluetooth link was robust and electromagnetically compatible with the tested electronic medical devices.

From the coast of Kuwait...military BMETs face daunting tasks.

Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology 235 Chief Hospital Corpsman Frank Cabrera is head of biomedical engineering aboard the U.S. Naval Ship, Comfort T-AH 20, a highly-mobile, 1,000-bed surgical platform stationed off the coast of Kuwait. During the recent U.S. military mission in Iraq, Cabrera and his crew were responsible for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on 3,600 pieces of medical equipment with net assets valued at $4.5 million. Talk about a logistical challenge. Although U.S. ships and soldiers in the field maintained support units in nearby cities or countries, those units were only as good as the supplies that were available. “You can’t just pick up the phone and call for a repair part to be flown out to your location,” said Cabrera, a certified biomedical equipment technician (CBET) and certified radiology equipment specialist (CRES). For BMETs serving in the military, the pressures to perform quick and precise maintenance on medical equipment are magnified by the intensity and unforgiving nature of a wartime setting. And the stakes are high. On the USNS Comfort, for example, 166 coalition casualties, 120 enemy prisoners of war, and 138 civilian casualties were treated, so the ability to restock supplies was vital to everyone involved in the war effort. It normally takes 2 to 3 weeks for a package to be delivered to the ship. Even when an order is placed with the highest priority on the military logistics chain, materials take about 7 days for delivery. So to compensate for shipping delays, Cabrera said the availability of an extensive repair parts inventory was crucial—for both high and low mortality equipment. Cabrera’s advice is to be properly prepared, and prioritize repair-part inventory according to criticality. His inventory aboard the USNS Comfort is vast. It ranges from a GE Pro-speed Computerized Tomography Unit and 4 GE Advantx Legacy Digital X-ray rooms to 2 Philips C-arms and 5 AMX-4 portable X-ray units. He also has 2 Acuson ultrasound machines; Johnson and Johnson Vitros 950 and 250 chemistry analyzer; Coulter ACT DIFF2 coagulation analyzer; 8 blood freezers; and complete surgical services for 14 operating rooms. From the Coast of Kuwait . . .

Quality system based on the standard SFS-EN ISO 9002 in Kuopio University Hospital.

Kuopio University Hospital, situated within middle-east Finland, adopted the ISO 9002 standard as its quality system and gained formal certification in March 1999. The rationale behind the decision to adopt ISO 9002 is given, along with the main elements of the journey. The experiences of the hospital, including the advantages and disadvantages, are explained. In particular, issues regarding the documentation process, control and calibration of 4,000 pieces of medical equipment and the impact on staffing levels for in-house trained personnel to undertake the audits are described. The impact on the service to date, including benefits and drawbacks, is covered, along with aspirations for the future. Kuopio Hospitals adopted some techniques during the implementation process which did not work as successfully as others. The article therefore includes these in an effort to pass on the learning acquired from implementing ISO 9002 within such a large hospital as Kuopio University Hospital.

Influence of relative humidity and suspending menstrua on survival of Acinetobacter spp. on dry surfaces.

Acinetobacter spp. are being reported with increasing frequency as a cause of nosocomial infection and have been isolated from the skin of healthy individuals, patients, hospital staff, dry nonbiotic objects, and different pieces of medical equipment. Factors affecting the survival of Acinetobacter spp. under conditions closely similar to those found in the hospital environment were investigated in the present study to help us understand the epidemiology of nosocomial Acinetobacter infection. Bacterial cells were suspended in distilled water or bovine serum albumin and were dried onto glass coverslips and kept at different relative humidities. Cells washed from coverslips were used to determined viable counts. Freshly isolated strains of Acinetobacter spp. belonging to the clinically important Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii complex were found to be more resistant to drying conditions (e.g., 30 days for A. baumannii 16/49) than American Type Culture Collection strains (e.g., 2 days for A. baumannii ATCC 9955). The majority of strains belonging to the Acb complex had survival times similar to those observed for the gram-positive organism Staphylococcus aureus tested in the experiment. Survival times were prolonged for almost all the strains tested when they were suspended in bovine serum albumin (e.g., 60 days for A. baumannii R 447) compared with those for strains suspended in distilled water (11 days for R 447). The survival times for strains at higher relative humidity (31 or 93%) were longer than those for strains of Acinetobacter kept at a relative humidity of 10% (11 days at 31% relative humidity and 4 days at 10% relative humidity for R447). These findings are consistent with the observed tendency of Acinetobacter spp. to survive on dry surfaces, and they can be transferred not only by moist vectors but also under dry conditions in a hospital environment during nosocomial infection outbreaks. The results obtained in the experiment support the previously suggested airborne spread of Acinetobacter spp. in hospital wards and repeated outbreaks after incomplete disinfection of contaminated dry surfaces.