Dear All,
I urgently require the Iris Scan controller Board for the Philips BV 300 C-Arm. I already contacted the company but they price quoted is too high. So, if any one has condemned and is about to discard the above unit, please contact me.

Is patient safety worth saving a few bucks?

Nick sir... We never weigh it financially... The thing is the price is extrornitant here as there are very few installations in this location... So I am looking for alternate sources... That is all.. if there is no other option i'll buy it...

Perhaps you might like to share with us why you feel patient safety is being compromised here, Nick?

In my experience, patients are subjected to some level of risk each and every time a piece of kit is used (on them). But I doubt that any of us have left clinical staff using kit in worse condition that we found it.

There's nothing wrong with fitting good used boards, as long as such sensible action is "permitted" at the organisation you work for ... and, er, you know what you are doing!

So I don't believe we should be equating a willingness to be gouged by the Main Players (big manufacturers) as a measure of excellence for biomed techs!

I can completely understand where you both are coming from.

I just know if it was me as the patient if I would want to know that the piece of equipment being used on me had been repaired or maintained using geniune new OEM parts rather than second hand parts (still in perfect working order).

I do realise that when your an engineer working in a country that isnt the United States that parts from manufacturers are always really expensive and also hard to source.

I didn't intend to create a drama from the comment I posted and I hope you find a solution to your problem.

No worries, Nick. Everyone is entitled to his opinion on here, and all are encouraged to state their piece.

To my mind, OEM parts -versus- used parts is not really the issue. More important, I reckon, is that the kit is being properly looked after, and is operating correctly, to spec, and within limits (that is, in-cal if you like).

And, dare I say, the fact that it is working at all (rather than sitting idle) is always the Big Plus. "Down" kit may be (very) safe, but it's not doing a whole lot of good, is it?

In the case in point, surely what really matters is the quality of the image? If the user is getting good results, on which sound clinical judgments can be made ... well, that's it - job done - as far as I'm concerned.

The users were happy with the quality of the image that was being delivered with the testing board we had installed in the C Arm but the board was removed from another working unit just to verify the problem.. So i am reiterating my request for help again... Can someone point me to a source for this board??/

although they are a long way from you (ie, in Oz) these guys might be able to help.

Dave