Seth Crino

Hospitals employ a great variety of medical instruments.

These tools occasionally break down. Furthermore, periodic ‘tune-ups’ are

necessary to make sure devices are operating at peak efficiency.

Erroneous equipment can seriously affect the care of a patient.

This is where Biomedical Engineers come in.

Also called “Clinical Engineers”, or “Bio-Med Equipment Technicians”.

All new equipment must be inspected before use, including tests for electrical safety and calibration.

1943: Biomed engineers begin helping the military.

1970: An article citing numerous deaths and injuries due to hospital electrical problems leads to an increase of Biomed engineers in the hospital.

Each piece of equipment must be checked by Biomed at least once a year, with some devices requiring checkups twice a year.

This is called a “preventative maintenance”, or a “PM”.

All functions of the device are tested by following instructions from the manual.

If the PM is passed, it is returned to the floor. Otherwise, it undergoes…

Most problems with equipment can be fixed by relatively simple means.

However, some machines, such as Ultrasound imaging devices, require training from the manufacturer to be certified in repairing it.

And some machines require a representative from the company to come fix it instead.

No system, no matter how well made, will ever be completely free from flaws

Faulty pieces, user error, aging technology, and rough usage will ensure job security for a long time.

UConn BME FAQ’s <http://www.engr.uconn.edu/bme/faqs/bmefaqs.htm>

John D. Enderle, Joseph D. Bronzino Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Academic Press, 2011

Wikipedia: Biomedical Equipment Technician: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomedical_Equipment_Technician>

USAMB history: <http://www.bmets-usa.org/history.html>