How Medical Equipment Work

The healthcare sector is increasingly bombarded with new medical equipment and that is why it is important to know how medical equipment works as it would help promote the quality of life. In the health sector knowing how medical equipment works is extremely important to maintain equipment efficiency and utility to provide quality care and cut cost.

The healthcare industry, whether labs, clinics or hospitals, use a vast variety of specialized equipment, devices, and medications to serve patients better. It is also a necessity for medical personnels to know how various equipment works, their functions and what they are used for because it solves putting your patient’s life at stake just because of a particular medical equipment you could not operate at the point of need.

What are medical equipment ?

Medical equipment also known as armamentarium is designed to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of medical conditions.

Let us proceed further in knowing the types of medical equipment and how they work.

Types of medical Equipment

• Respiratory: The respiratory category of medical equipment includes the Pulse oximeter, tracheal tubes, capnography, circle breathing system and advance circle breathing system.
• Vaporisers
• Imaging: This consists of Ultrasound imaging and magnetic resonance imaging.
• Electricity: They comprise both the electricity basis and electricity safety.
• Defibrillators
• International system of unit

How Medical Equipment Work

Interestingly, medical equipment works in the following ways as described below. Let's start with the oximeter.

Oximeter: Pulse oximeters measure how much of the hemoglobin a blood is carrying (oxygen saturation). If you work in healthcare or have been a patient, you are very likely to have come across pulse oximeters. You can find them in areas such as operating rooms, recovery, critical care, wards, and ambulances.

Pulse oximeters are in common use because they are:

• non invasive
• cheap to buy and use
• can be very compact
• detects hypoxaemia earlier than you using your eyes to see cyanosis.

Contact us for the best Oximeters.

How Oximeter works

During a pulse oximetry reading, a small clamp-like device is placed on a finger, earlobe, or toe. Small beams of light pass through the blood in the finger, measuring the amount of oxygen. It does this by measuring changes of light absorption in oxygenated or deoxygenated blood. This is a painless process.

The pulse oximeter will thus be able to tell you your oxygen saturation levels along with your heart rate.

Pulse oximetry may be used in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In some cases, your doctor may recommend that you have a pulse oximeter for home use. 

The pulse oximetry process is as follows:

• Most commonly, a clip-like device will be placed on your finger, earlobe, or toe. You may feel a small amount of pressure, but there is no pain or pinching. In some cases, a small probe may be placed on your finger or forehead with a sticky adhesive. You may be asked to remove your fingernail polish if it’s being attached to a finger.
• You will keep the probe on for as long as needed to monitor your pulse and oxygen saturation. When monitoring physical activity capabilities, this will be during the extent of the exercise and during the recovery period. During surgery, the probe will be attached beforehand and removed once you’re awake and no longer under supervision. Sometimes, it will only be used to take a single reading very quickly.
• Once the test is over, the clip or probe will be removed.

Imaging

Medical Imaging is the use of imaging modalities and processes to get pictures of the human body, which can assist diagnosis and treatment of patients. It can also be used to track any ongoing issues, and can therefore help with treatment plans.

There are many different types of medical imaging techniques, which use different technologies to produce images for different purposes.

Medical imaging is a type of technology that is used to create visual representations of the human body’s interior. The visual image produced by the equipment is used for clinical analysis and medical intervention. There are many medical imaging equipment, such as ;

radiography (X-ray machine),

computed tomography (CT scan),

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan),

ultrasound, and

echocardiography, to name a few.

How X-rays work

An X-ray is produced when a negatively charged electrode is heated by electricity and electrons are released, thereby producing energy. That energy is directed toward a metal plate, or anode, at high velocity and an X-ray is produced when the energy collides with the atoms in the metal plate. 

When you go to get an X-ray, a cassette is placed behind or under the area of concern. This cassette holds the film that will be exposed by the X-ray. As the X-ray enters your body, it passes through your skin, muscles, and organs, as this type of soft tissue cannot absorb the energy of the X-ray. This appears dark on the film as it is now exposed. However, bone absorbs X-ray energy and does not expose the film. This area appears light or white on the film. This is how an X-ray image is created.

What is a Defibrillator?

A defibrillator is a machine that sends a high energy electric shock through the heart. This high energy electric shock is called defibrillation. The aim of this shock is to return a heart to its normal working state if it goes into cardiac arrest.

In an emergency situation, knowing how to use a defibrillator could save someone’s life. You can find defibrillators in numerous public places, from leisure centres to train stations, and knowing how a defibrillator works can help you act more effectively in a stressful situation. To help you feel more confident using a defibrillator, here’s a quick run through of what you need to know.

How defibrillators work

Defibrillators are usually very easy to use. They have spoken step by step instructions on the machine, and often there are diagrams to guide you through the whole process. To use a defibrillator, you will need to place the pads correctly on the patient’s chest. Peel the pads off the plastic and stick them onto the patient’s bare skin as shown on the pictures on the defibrillator. You will need to do this while someone continues to administer CPR.

The defibrillator will then need to analyse the patient’s heart rhythm. To do this, you will need to stop administering CPR. How an AED works is by then determining whether the patient has a heart rhythm that can be helped by a shock. If it finds that a defibrillator can help, you will then need to press the shock button when instructed. Ensure no one is touching the patient at this time.

The defibrillator will then shock the patient. When given the all clear by the defibrillator, you will then need to continue to administer CPR. Continue until the patient displays obvious signs of life, or until the defibrillator instructs you to stop so it can reanalyse the patient’s heart rhythm.

If the defibrillator tells you that the patient won’t be helped by a shock, do not press the shock button. Continue with CPR until the emergency services arrive.

Depending on your place of work, If you want to get quality medical equipment that is tailored to your needs, visit Gz Industrial Supplies. We offer quality medical equipment for a range of industries, schools and athletics to corporations. Contact us today and we will be happy to provide guidance on all our products.