[The status of and problems in the development of Russian medical instrument making]

Recently, there have been great changes in the nomenclature of manufactured medical equipment (ME) items and hence there is a considerable renewal of products due to the fact that a lot of conversed enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC) have settled down in producing ME. By and large, the output of new ME items is 37% of their total medical instrument making nomenclature. Thus, in 1988 the proportion of the items was 35% of the total output of medical devices and apparatuses while in 1995 it is 65%. The output and technical level of some extremely complex ME items, Russian devices for hemodialysis and extracorporeal circulation have been increased. The Russian enterprises have designed and are manufacturing diagnostic nuclear magnetic systems, pulse oximeters, Billitest bilirubin meters, complex laboratory sets for radioimmunochemical assay, a G202-5 lit-par-lit scanning complex, Mammodiagnost apparatus, new Roentgen-48 and Roentgen-60 X-ray complexes, etc. The paper gives specific examples how a number of medical devices and apparatuses are designed and launched into production at the electronic and radio industrial and MIC enterprises.