Mårtensson Mattias, Olsson Mats, Brodin Lars-Åke
School for Technology and Health, KTH, Campus Flemingsberg, Alfred Nobels Allé 10, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
Eur J Echocardiogr. 2010 Oct;11(9):801-5. doi: 10.1093/ejechocard/jeq072. Epub 2010 Jun 8.
The objective was to follow-up the study 'High incidence of defective ultrasound transducers in use in routine clinical practice' and evaluate if annual testing is good enough to reduce the incidence of defective ultrasound transducers in routine clinical practice to an acceptable level.
A total of 299 transducers were tested in 13 clinics at five hospitals in the Stockholm area. Approximately 7000-15,000 ultrasound examinations are carried out at these clinics every year. The transducers tested in the study had been tested and classified as fully operational 1 year before and since then been in normal use in the routine clinical practice. The transducers were tested with the Sonora FirstCall Test System. There were 81 (27.1%) defective transducers found; giving a 95% confidence interval ranging from 22.1 to 32.1%. The most common transducer errors were 'delamination' of the ultrasound lens and 'break in the cable' which together constituted 82.7% of all transducer errors found. The highest error rate was found at the radiological clinics with a mean error rate of 36.0%. There was a significant difference in error rate between two observed ways the clinics handled the transducers. There was no significant difference in the error rates of the transducer brands or the transducers models.
Annual testing is not sufficient to reduce the incidence of defective ultrasound transducers in routine clinical practice to an acceptable level and it is strongly advisable to create a user routine that minimizes the handling of the transducers.
本研究旨在跟进“常规临床实践中使用的超声换能器缺陷发生率高”这一研究，并评估年度检测是否足以将常规临床实践中超声换能器缺陷的发生率降低到可接受水平。
在斯德哥尔摩地区五家医院的13家诊所共检测了299个换能器。这些诊所每年进行约7000 - 15000次超声检查。本研究中检测的换能器在1年前已进行测试并被归类为完全可操作，此后一直在常规临床实践中正常使用。使用索诺拉FirstCall测试系统对换能器进行检测。发现有81个（27.1%）缺陷换能器；95%置信区间为22.1%至32.1%。最常见的换能器错误是超声透镜的“分层”和“电缆断裂”，这两者共占所有发现的换能器错误的82.7%。放射科诊所的错误率最高，平均错误率为36.0%。诊所处理换能器的两种观察方式之间的错误率存在显著差异。换能器品牌或型号的错误率没有显著差异。
年度检测不足以将常规临床实践中超声换能器缺陷的发生率降低到可接受水平，强烈建议建立一种使用流程，尽量减少对换能器的操作。
