Using the right products for cleaning and lubrication is important. “A little bit of grease and cleaning as part of regular preventive maintenance will keep everything running smoothly,” Watson says. Medical imaging systems need a good cleaning as dust and debris can damage components or clog fans and cause overheating. “It doesn’t look good if a couple months after doing the PM, you have to go back and replace a battery.” System Cleaning and Lubrication “The purpose of preventive maintenance is to avoid service calls and downtime,” he says. He advises engineers not to ignore battery replacement, because it can reflect poorly on your attention to detail and quality of work. “Newer radiography systems have detectors, so you’ll also need to pay attention to the batteries,” Watson says. For example, medical imaging engineers are required to do more calibrations on newer equipment because there are a lot of automatic movements that take place. Newer Siemens models also have their own unique considerations. “Instead of replacing parts, cleaning things up, and making it look better, we just get used to things that should really be repaired.” “Sometimes you can get accustomed to how a system looks as it ages,” he explains. He says you should be looking for things like broken wires and corrosion during PM procedures. With older radiographic systems, Watson believes unawareness of decline can become a risk. “One of the biggest issues is people aren’t keeping an eye out for parts that are in need of replacement,” Watson says. “After a while things inside radiographic systems get dirty or begin to rust, which will cause issues,” says Watson.Īddressing wear-and-tear on older systems is important, especially because many hospitals and medical imaging clinics are choosing to keep their equipment in use longer. You should be listening for unusual noises and looking for deterioration. Mechanical and Diagnostic TestingĪs you go through the provided checklist of steps to complete during PM, you’ll be using both your eyes and ears to watch for potential issues that should be addressed.
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We can also send it when customers order our customizable PM Kits or call for free technical support. Technical Prospects provides these documents to those who participate in training. The first thing you’ll need is the proper documentation from the OEM, which will outline step-by-step instructions for completing preventive maintenance.
“If the FDA or JCAHO come in for a yearly inspection and they find you haven’t been doing preventive maintenance right, you could be fined or even fired,” he explains. Watson reminds us that preventive maintenance is not an option, it’s a necessity, as the FDA and Joint Commission (JCAHO) require it. So, it needs to be taken seriously and done properly.” The most important thing to remember is that this maintenance is intended to keep a system running for two years. “Other engineers will do eight hours one day, and a year later will do the other eight hours. “Some people do it four times in four hour increments,” Watson says. You can expect the entire process to take approximately 16 hours. Preventive maintenance on Siemens radiography equipment should be scheduled on a 24-month cycle. “Yet, in many cases it doesn’t seem to be getting done as much as it should.” When and Why Should Radiography System PM Procedures Take Place? “Doing preventive maintenance on a radiographic system is one of least expensive processes out there as far as the parts and cleaning supplies required to do the job,” Watson says. We currently offer coursework on the Siemens Ysio, Multix, and Aristos families of systems. He’s an experienced medical imaging engineer who worked for Siemens for a decade and leads many of our radiography training courses at Technical Prospects. To get some expert advice, we turned to Product Support Engineer Chris Watson.
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This is the first in a series of articles covering PM tips for engineers and service technicians who maintain and repair Siemens medical imaging equipment.
When done properly, PM saves your organization money, ensures patient safety, extends the life of medical imaging equipment, and reduces the number of problems you’re forced to address between scheduled maintenance checks.
It can be tedious and time consuming, but preventive maintenance (PM) is a crucial part of a medical imaging engineer’s job within a healthcare organization.