SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOGWhat are the Most common Problems in Ultrasound Systems and How to Prevent them?
Medical machinery costs a fortune to even a facility with several sponsors or a thick wallet. It is also one of the many reasons that healthcare facilities take extensive care of it. Although during its work course, there may come a time when one would face problems of various kinds. Some of them can be rectified, while others can burn a hole in your pocket for their replacement.
But it’s always advisable to be prepared and know what possible problems can you encounter with the refurbished medical equipment.
Bring light to the most common problems faced, while using ultrasound systems and how they can be prevented.
Let’s get started.
Hardware failures
Input and core hardware failures have a mere possibility of occurrence. If encountered, you may need to replace them to resume the workflow.
The computer central processing unit, batteries, disk storage, and cables are all included in core hardware that makes up to 5% of the entire ultrasound machine.
On the other hand, the input hardware includes sensing equipment like keyboard command keys, barcode scanner which accounts for 13% of the entire ultrasound machine.
The common type of failure is found in image artifacts that can cause a big nuisance to your work. No one reason can define the cause of this problem but some of them are caused due to electrical interference in the proximity of the ultrasound machines.
This comes under the part of output hardware failures which include image display problems as noticed on the monitor hardcopy or other prints. This failure accounts for 22% of the problems encountered in the ultrasound systems.
All these figures can be prevented with regular maintenance and keeping an eye on even a slight mishap in the ultrasound machine.
Corrupted Software
The other most common problem causing improper shut down of the ultrasound machine is software corruption or system reboot. Many technologists while working with ultrasound machines are impatient and do not wait for the system to completely switch off. They instead force shut down by switching the main power button off.
This abrupt and forced shut down of the system results in software corruption. To make sure this doesn’t happen to your ultrasound system, you need to ensure and stick to a proper shutdown procedure. Let the system turn off on its own after you press shut down and then it will work like a charm for a long time.
Ultrasound probes damages and defects repair
Transducer issues or say ultrasound probes or another common problem encountered while working with ultrasound machines.
These issues are distributed into six different sub categories as listed below.
- Physical damage
- Defects of the probe
- Black shadows from the pro probe
- Sheath/shell
- Cable and signal loss
- General defects
Going to discuss some of the issues that fall into these categories and hold you can prevent them.
- Put protective bags to surround the transducer head or connect safety wires to the probe so that you can avoid any chance of dropping it on the floor.
- You should never use any disinfectant fluids like alcohol as they dry out the lens of the probe.
- Do not bend or twist the cable ever as each cable consist of 128 to 320 small wires in it. Each of these 128-320 wires has a connection to a crystal. With any twist or bend, this connection will break. The signal will reduce or maybe even completely disappear. Even the warranty won’t cover the rough and careless treatment of the equipment.
Lens Failure
The acoustic lens in an ultrasound machine is a gelatinous professional substance that contacts the upper body via an ultrasound probe. This lens may get damaged after using it for a long time due to scratch, corrosion, degumming, blisters, wear and tear, or other damage.
In many cases, corrosion occurs due to coupling agents at the lower level that causes doctors to misdiagnose with blind spots such as artifacts. Many ultrasound systems use cheap convex probe crystal that not only endangers the patient’s body, but can also cause harm to the machine as well as the technologist operating it.
To prevent it injecting liquid silicon in degumming, you can expel the bubbles in the lens. The fault can also be eliminated by tying a rope to the probe by force for a day before deregulation. It will help the probe return to normal.
In a failure caused by a glued match between the acoustic lens and the matching layers of liquid, silicon rubber for the probe acoustic lens repair materials like magic.
Stick to prevention rather than looking for a cure
There are innumerable reasons that can cause the shutdown of your ultrasound systems. Although the most common ones are listed above along with the best fit choices on how you can prevent them. While working with such a piece of costly equipment on-board, it is advisable to prevent these problems than to look out for its solutions after the damage is done.
#Tip: Do stick to regular maintenance and check-up of your ultrasound machine that will keep the same running for a long time.
KB Consulting is providing a full line of ultrasound machines for sale. Get the best price on pre-owned ultrasound systems from major brands. To get further information on availability, price, specification and condition, please feel free to call us at +1 586 917 0245 or email us at sales@kbdentalconsulting.com.
