Bearing in mind that I didn't actually design the thing myself, I would say that it is "proven", if only by it's sheer length of service (what is is now ... forty years) and almost universal acceptance (or should that be, uptake in the absence of any serious competition*)!
It works in "mm" (rather than, I presume "ml") because that was about all the technology of the late 1960's allowed. It was designed by Pye - remember them? It also happened to the
first (ambulatory syringe driver)! Not to mention
cheap ... due to the use of components readily available at the time. Like micro-switches (no LED's back then)!
Confusing? To today's harried nurses, perhaps. Maybe nurses of yesteryear had a bit more time to actually
think. Who knows? They didn't have degrees back then, after all.
They are not complicated at all. In fact the word "simple" comes to mind. Also reliable. And (I would assert) appropriate to the setting(s) in which they are used. And ... the adjusting screws could easily be covered if need be (by a bit of surgical tape - the nurses' favourite - for example) - not to mention the syringe cover itself.
Meanwhile, I believe I have mentioned elsewhere the nonsense of testing ancient technology like this to standards way beyond the original design spec (as I have seen happening to MS16A's in certain NHS biomed shops). And that goes for the design itself as well. That's a bit like condemning the original Morris Mini after taking a look at a modern "BMW" Mini (a bad example, perhaps - because the 1959 design was actually superior)! Oh yes, the "retrospectoscope" can come in very handy at times like this!
Sorry Dave. Like it or lump it, the MS16A/MS28 has already gone down in history as a classic design (of medical equipment). Hey, I've already got them in my museum!
*
Until recently, that is.
