Hideaki Kamijo, Vice-Chair of the Department of Clinical Engineering, Tsukuba Medical Center, Public Interest Foundation
One of the tasks of clinical engineers is to maintain and inspect the portable medical equipment used in hospitals. Ideally, medical equipment should be used within the service life stated in the attached documentation and instruction manual, but in reality, they are used for long periods of time and require repeated repairs.
The device analyzed this time is an "automated infusion pump." Since patients often carry it around, there are limitations to how much medical staff can manage it. There are many of them, making it one of the more difficult devices to manage. Many of the repair and inspection requests are related to accidents such as falls or being carried into an MRI room (high magnetic field environment). In some cases, the repair costs are so high that they are worth purchasing, leading to the device being discontinued before its useful life is over. Deterioration over time is not the only reason for discontinuing operation. We believe that it is not enough to just buy the device and then be done with it, but that the next update timing should also be considered as an issue.
On the other hand, in order to get the project done within the budget, even if you claim that the building has deteriorated over time, it may not be included in the renewal plan. The problem is the balance between risk and cost. In order to obtain the budget, you must show a rational justification.
This time, we predicted the number of units that will be discontinued per year based on maintenance data. We report on equipment life prediction using field data and its application.
