In the field of medicine, medical equipment plays a critical role in the diagnosis, monitoring, or treatment of different kinds of medical conditions. These devices are designed to follow rigorous safety standards in order to ensure the safety of patients. The absence of these medical tools could significantly cripple the medical industry and could become detrimental to the lives of billions of people worldwide. Hence, it is imperative that they are properly taken care of in order to guarantee their functionality and reliability.
Medical equipment can be classified into five different categories: diagnostic, therapeutic, life support, monitors, and medical laboratory. Diagnostic devices are the ones used to determine the identity of a possible disease or disorder and may include ultrasound, MRI, x-ray machines, PET and CT scanners. Therapeutic devices that are commonly used to aid patients during and after surgical procedures include medical lasers, infusion pump, and LASIK surgical machines. Life support machines are devices that help in maintaining the bodily functions of a patient and may include heart-lung machines, medical ventilators, dialysis machines, ECMO and anesthetic machines. Medical monitors, on the other hand, are utilized by health care professionals to measure the medical state of the patient along with their vital signs and essential parameters including EEG, ECG, blood pressure and dissolved gases found in the blood. Meanwhile, medical laboratory devices are used to automate or analyze urine, blood, and genes.
Regardless of the types of medical devices being used, it is crucial that they are properly maintained so as to deliver longer service life and to avoid the spread of diseases. Of course, some medical tools are disposable such as gloves and needles, but it is not financially sound to dispose of expensive devices between uses. There are various ways in which you could ensure the functionality of these medical devices.
To start with, if you are using reusable home medical devices you could disinfect them after every usage with cotton dabbed in rubbing alcohol. After this process, place the contaminated equipment in an ultrasound bath that is filled with disinfectant solution for 15 minutes. The ultrasonic bath uses strong ultrasonic waves that could remove even the smallest quantities of contaminants. Rinse the equipment with clean water and then dry it with disposable paper towels. Place your tools in self-sealing autoclave bags and put them in an autoclave machine, which subject your device to high pressure steam. Once you have completed the steaming process, properly store your equipment in a clean and sterilized place.
For larger medical devices such as portable ultrasound machines, patient monitors and dialysis machines, you could employ the services of medical device service centers to help you in maintaining your medical tools. Most of the time these service centers are manned by skilled technicians who are trained to troubleshoot a variety of issues about medical devices. They would help you in installing, upgrading and repairing your devices, ensuring you that they are safe to use and functioning very well. Or, if you could stretch your budget a little further you could also employ the services of a bio medical equipment technician or BMET.
Generally, the numerous aforementioned devices are very important for the betterment of the lives of patients. Maintaining and cleaning them are the most effective means in order to ensure that they would function at their peak, and that they would not become the source of the spread of diseases. Yet above all, it is important that you purchase your medical tools from reliable manufacturers. Because at the end of the day, the lives of your patients depend on this equipment, which means they have to be functional and not defective.
