COVER STORY BENDER UK
Why safe and reliable power supply, ease of operation, and modernisation go together
René Bülow, vice president, business unit hospital solutions at Bender GmbH & Co. KG, explains why, when upgrading hospital facilities with new technology, it is key to first consider modernising the existing power supply system.
Digitalisation is progressing rapidly and has long since reached all areas of life, be it in industry, the public sector, or in the private realm. In hospitals, too, significant investment has been made in new, advanced technology and installations. This is necessary as the pressure on costs continues to rise, and hospitals must remain competitive.
Digitalisation also entails employing
changes to infrastructure and systems. To ensure a hospital is equipped with modern technology, it is simply not enough to procure new technology. As the requirements for a power supply system continue to increase, modernising existing systems must be considered when changes to infrastructure are made.
Three reasons for modernising the power supply of hospitals A safe and reliable power supply is the backbone of every hospital. Rooms employed for medical purposes must meet specific requirements and regulations in terms of availability. For this reason, the fail-safe unearthed power distribution system (medical IT power) is used for operating theatres, intensive care units, emergency rooms, and other areas. A system installed in 2005 and still
IFHE DIGEST 2024
used in many hospitals is no longer suitable for ensuring fail-safe operation today and in the future. Medical electrical devices procured in recent years impact the power supply system and cause effects that did not even exist in 2005. Correspondingly, old power-supply technology is ‘blind’ to these effects. Direct currents, high-frequency harmonics, and digital peak currents have far-reaching consequences for the reliability and safety of hospitals power supply system. Therefore, the power supply in hospitals, specifically in critical areas and medical locations, should be upgraded to the latest state-of-the-art infrastructure. There are three reasons for this:
l Only advanced insulation monitoring, automatic fault location, and transfer
switching devices in medical IT systems can detect all occurring faults reliably and ensure protection from power failures.
l Replacement parts are no longer available for many older, obsolete devices.
l And finally, many hospital technicians currently monitor and check an ever- increasing number of electrical and electronic devices manually. Often, technicians have limited knowledge of older devices. In the event of a fault and potential loss of power, the fault elimination may take much longer, with theatre or ward shutdown and corresponding financial consequences for the hospital.
René Bülow
René Bülow is vice president, Business Unit Hospital Solutions, at Bender HQ in Germany. He has more than
20 years’ experience in medical IT Power, is a member of the International Standards Committee of CENELEC CLC/TC 64/WG 06 Medical locations, and a member of the International Electrotechnical Commission of IEC/TC 64/MT 40 Maintenance of IEC 60364-7-710 - Medical sites.
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