Precision calibration of patient care equipment as failure predictor

Reliability of patient care equipment could be enhanced if failures could be predicted and repairs made on a routine instead of emergency basis. The paper describes the efforts of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center to use changes in accuracy of selected parameters as failure predictor. Monthly precision tests of ECG rate computers, strip chart recorders and waveform analysis of defibrillator discharges were used in this experiment. For defibrillators and strip chart records failures could clearly be predicted but the results for ECG rate computers are still inconclusive.