Sahay K B, Saxena R K
Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
J Acad Hosp Adm. 1996;8-9(2-1):7-9.
Varieties of Biomedical Equipment (BME) are now used for quick diagnosis, flawless surgery and therapeutics etc. Use of a malfunctioning BME could result in faulty diagnosis and wrong treatment and can lead to damaging or even devastating aftermath. Modern Biomedical Equipments inevitably employ highly sophisticated technology and use complex systems and instrumentation for best results. To the best of our knowledge the medical education in India does not impart any knowledge on the theory and design of BME and it is perhaps not possible also. Hence there is need for a permanent mechanism which can maintain and repair the biomedical equipments routinely before use and this can be done only with the help of qualified Clinical Engineers. Thus there is a genuine need for well organized cadre of Clinical Engineers who would be persons with engineering background with specialization in medical instrumentation. These Clinical engineers should be made responsible for the maintenance and proper functioning of BME. Every hospital or group of hospitals in the advanced countries has a clinical engineering unit that takes care of the biomedical equipments and systems in the hospital by undertaking routine and preventive maintenance, regular calibration of equipments and their timely repairs. Clinical engineers should be thus made an essential part of modern health care system and services. Unfortunately such facilities and mechanism do not exist in India. To make BME maintenance efficient and flawless in India, study suggests following measures and remedies: (i) design and development of comprehensive computerized database for BME (ii) cadre of Clinical engineers (iii) online maintenance facility and (iv) farsighted managerial skill to maximize accuracy, functioning and cost effectiveness.
现在，各种生物医学设备（BME）被用于快速诊断、完美手术和治疗等。使用故障的生物医学设备可能导致错误诊断和错误治疗，并可能导致破坏性甚至毁灭性的后果。现代生物医学设备不可避免地采用高度复杂的技术，并使用复杂的系统和仪器以获得最佳效果。据我们所知，印度的医学教育并未传授任何关于生物医学设备理论和设计的知识，而且这也许也是不可能的。因此，需要一种永久性机制，能在使用前对生物医学设备进行常规维护和修理，而这只有在合格的临床工程师的帮助下才能完成。因此，真正需要有组织良好的临床工程师队伍，他们应是具有医学仪器专业背景的工程人员。这些临床工程师应负责生物医学设备的维护和正常运行。发达国家的每家医院或医院集团都有一个临床工程部门，通过进行常规和预防性维护、设备定期校准及其及时维修，来照顾医院里的生物医学设备和系统。因此，临床工程师应成为现代医疗保健系统和服务的重要组成部分。不幸的是，印度不存在这样的设施和机制。为了使印度的生物医学设备维护高效且完美，研究提出了以下措施和补救办法：（i）设计和开发生物医学设备综合计算机数据库；（ii）临床工程师队伍；（iii）在线维护设施；（iv）有远见的管理技能，以最大限度地提高准确性、运行效率和成本效益。
