Feature Test & Measurement At the heart of cardiac robot testing
Rigel Medical’s portable analysers are being used to improve electrical safety testing at a ground breaking project in Poland to create a new generation of advanced cardiac surgery robots
T
he Robin Heart is Europe’s first medical robot for cardiac surgery with semi-automatic movements, an advanced human machine interface and a 3D virtual training system. It has been developed by the Zbigniew Religa Foundation of Cardiac Surgery Development. There are an estimated four million minimally invasive surgeries under- taken annually around the world, and the robot technology aims to reduce the risk factor by using advancements in precision robotics to improve surgi- cal accuracy and manoeuvrability. Ensuring that all the vital electrical components of the robot system func- tion properly and safely during the various stages of product development is a critical part of this research project that could radically alter the future shape of medical surgery.
Meeting the standards Testing has to be undertaken in accor- dance with IEC 60601-1 Medical elec- trical equipment - Part 1: General requirements for basic safety and essential performance. The compo- nents also have to be regularly inspected and tested to make sure they comply with IEC 62353, the standard for in-service and after repair testing of medical electronic devices.
The 288 analyser has been supplied by Rigel Medical’s distributor in Poland, SAMSO, and features multi-lingual menu driven instructions, with down- load report, for simple operation and test control of all electrical safety tests in manual, semi-automatic or fully auto-
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matic test modes. It provides fast and accurate testing of patient, enclosure and earth leakage as well as earth conti- nuity and insulation resistance. The compact design is particularly beneficial for the technicians involved in the Robin Heart project, providing improved portability and ease of use during completion of electrical safety checks.
Commenting on the reliability and accuracy of the tester, Kamil Rohr, engineer at the Foundation of Cardiac Surgery Development, said, “It pro- vides a higher degree of measurement accuracy than other testers, while the advanced software is impressive, allowing us in particular to plot trends in measurement values.
“It incorporates a good range of fea- tures for a tester of its size, while the connectivity benefits are particularly impressive. The ability to create our own test sequences is particularly useful while we find it easy to use and appreci- ate the fact that it’s compact enough to carry around our research facility. “The multi-lingual functions are also a beneficial feature, while importing and exporting data capabilities is partic- ularly helpful, enabling us to store test information which can then be easily retrieved and used for audit purposes.” The 288 offers a solution for testing devices for electrical safety to appro- priate standards including IEC/EN 62353, IEC/EN60601-1, VDE 0751-1, AS/NZS 3551, AAMI, NFPA-99, MDA DB 9801-2006.
A compact Bluetooth barcode scanner enables devices and equipment to be
Above and below: Rigel Medical’s 288 is being used to improve electrical safety testing on cardiac surgery robots being developed in Poland
quickly and easily identified, while test results can be stored within the Rigel 288 safety analyser and printed wirelessly to the rugged battery operated printer.
Additional features Traceability is improved as informa- tion can be downloaded into Med- eBase - the easy to use asset management software. This enables the user to store and manage test results, e-mail html test certificates to clients and schedule new work orders, which can then be fully uploaded into a large onboard memory.
The compact, lightweight design and long life battery power of the Rigel 288 reduces down-time between tests, making the instrument practical and portable for multi-site use. It features easy to follow menu driven instruc- tions for ease of operation and test control of all required electrical safety tests in manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic test modes.
Users also have the facility to select from a range of preset test programs or develop their own customised routines. A large internal memory facilitates the storage of test results for safety audit and traceability purposes. In addition, as well as storing the results of electrical tests, there is also the ability to record user defined inspections and measure- ments from other equipment such as
SpO2, NIBP, ECG and other electro- medical patient equipment.
Rigel
www.rigelmedical.com T: 0191 587 8730
Enter 227 OCTOBER 2013 Test & Measurement
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