Correct functioning of patient monitor is vital
One of the most used and essential devices in medical care is the patient monitor. Almost every medical department has equipment for monitoring patients. From the Emergency Room, Operating Room, Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Care Unit, Medium Care nursing departments to the delivery rooms and the Neonatology department. And then there are the emergency services with extensive mobile monitors. The patient monitor measures vital body functions, based on which decisions are made. A defibrillator monitor even defibrillates based on the measured functions. The correct functioning of the patient monitor is therefore of vital importance.
Performance testing
Testing the performance of the patient monitor is necessary at various times. During annual maintenance, after repairs, during development, or when testing the connection with, for example, digital systems for reporting or alarming.
In addition to the functioning of the patient monitor itself, the patient connections are also included in the testing. The ECG cables and connectors, the NIBP hose and cuffs, the SpO₂ cable and sensor, and many more optional applications such as invasive blood pressure, Cardiac Output, and CO₂ monitoring. Furthermore, the functioning of filters and the handling of noise are also checked.
Testing is also important in the development of patient monitors. IEC80601-2-49:2018 (Particular requirements for the basic safety and essential performance of multifunction patient monitoring equipment) specifies the minimum requirements and performance that a patient monitor must meet.
Parameters
In addition to the common parameters such as ECG, temperature, NIBP, and SpO₂, it is important to be able to simulate the further parameters of a patient monitor, such as respiration, Cardiac Output, fetal simulation, intrauterine pressure, various arrhythmias, Masimo Rainbow SpO₂ technology, pacemaker pulses, and more. The ProSim patient simulators are not the most widely used in this area for nothing. In upcoming blogs, we will go further into patient simulation for checking monitors.
