EBME Forums Forums Management Medical Equipment Management PC based medical equipment

Good day all

With more and more systems becoming PC based (resulting in more and more headaches) I would like to ask around about any policies that any of you may have in place regarding maintenance. Things such as Anti Virus updates, data storage/management. And more importantly:- LIFESPAN.

PC electronics are developing and changing so quickly that if a fault occurs it is becoming increasingly unlikely that spares are available!

So is the lifespan of a PC based medical system limited to say 4 years?

Regards,

Eddie

If the software for the medical equipment is not changed why should the hardware need upgrading?
It is only when you use newer packages with higher hardware demands that the PC needs to be changed.

If the equipment is not networked and does not have disks inserted in to it how will it get a virus?

But if the above is not true there is a problem. If you add or update virus protection software you are modifying the equipment, are you going to get all the software revalidated and get it CE marked in its new state? Even if CE marking does not apply to you, you need to know the additional software will not affect the correct operation of the medical part of the software.
But try telling your ICT department this.

Robert

How about "improving" (not modifying you'll notice) all PC-based equipment (ie, during acceptance) to prevent the user from accessing any of the ports other than the one(s) actually needed (and "secure" that one too)! Surely it's the users, not the kit itself, who are the "problem"?

Personally, I can't see that PC-based kit should necessarily have any shorter life-span than any other piece of kit, just as long as it's not "abused"!

You ask about the maintenance policy. Here it is:- keep it clean (blow it out occasionally) and repair as and when necessary!

Just as a matter of interest, though, Eddie ... what systems do you have in mind? Care to give us a few examples?

Rojo

My friend are you having a laugh, where did I mention (No Disks?) Theses systems are all standard PC based with CD drives and USB ports (I mean how would you get data into them?)

In fact to go one step further some of them are glorified Itunes music systems with medical acquisition software secondary!

What do you do if the CPU, Ram, Motherboard, etc blow in four years time? Upgrade? I need PC100 Ram for an urgent repair! Not readilly available anymore! Not here anyway!

Geoff, systems that are purely PC based are mostly Viasys EEG (Nicolet etc) Reynolds ECG (Pathfinder Etc), Sensor Medics Vmax PFT, most surgical lasers, most Ophalmology equipment, The list is endless mate.

Ed

Also, all the above equipment needs to trade data via USB ports, reports, images etc in both directions. Also most medical software will only run in Administrator mode!

Ed

Yes, the list is endless, but I was trying to take an angle from the user "problem" point of view. In my experience, some departments have hardly any problems with (what is essentially) PC-based kit, whilst others may always be "fiddling about" with it (and I bet this applies where you are)!

Robert is right ... the "virus" problems will be self-inflicted wounds (that is, by the user)!

Regarding repairs, it sounds like you need to get down to the souk more often, Mate! The up-side of of all this is (I suppose) that PC parts are so cheap that you can basically afford to change the whole thing!

I know where there is at least one shed-full of old PC's. From the bean counter's perspective, they have zero value (and may even represent a liability - as in, "costly to dispose of"). I'll bet that any of the parts you need will be in there somewhere. Pity you're not in the UK!

Oh so true Geoff, sometimes I wish I was in the UK, parts are much easier to aquire! And they get delivered!!!

I often visit the old souks here mate but its so dangerous! Not the people their "well sound" but I always end up spending my Saudi Riyals on weird and wonderful things! Im afraid PC100 Ram though is not readily available! You see because KSA has a direct Asian market deal electronic goods here are usually 1-2 years ahead of Europe, and yes I know what your thinking! What a place to do "live" product testing!

Ed

Maplin!