Download Protecting Your Nuclear Medicine Imaging System

Protecting Your Nuclear Medicine
Imaging System Investment
October 14, 2015
Presenter Bio: Craig Diener
Craig Diener
Senior Product Manager
Universal Medical Resources, Inc.
Mr. Diener has more than 22 years of experience in
nuclear medicine, including 19 with Philips Healthcare
and ADAC Laboratories in multiple roles in product and
production management. Previously, he worked for JD
Technical services, which was acquired by ADAC in 1995.
Universal Medical Resources is an independent service
provider located in Washington, Missouri.
Agenda
• Introduction
• Environmental Concerns
• Preventive Maintenance
• Daily / Weekly Quality Checks
• Service Contracts
• “End of Life / Service” Notification
• Hard Drive Failure Concerns
• Critical Product Recovery
• Question & Answer Session
Protecting Your Nuclear Medicine Investment
• Significant pressure on radiology departments / practices
due to lower reimbursement rates
• Throughput and uptime are the keys to profitability
• More facilities are keeping older equipment to lower overhead
• Key to protecting your investment:
 Environmental Concerns
 Preventive Maintenance
 Quality Control
 Regular Service
 Sudden/Unexpected Issues
Environmental Concerns
• Temperature, humidity fluctuations / extremes impact electronics
• Older circuit boards are particularly vulnerable, though newer
electronics and semiconductors are susceptible too
• Fans can’t run forever, bearings fail = overheating
• Optical grease is sensitive to temperature, thinning can cause
image degradation & tuning instability
• Dust & other debris
 Impacts fan efficiency
 Wear mechanical components
(e.g. gears, motors, joints)
• Dedicated HVAC & regular cleaning
Environmental Concerns – Proper Shielding
• Sources from other nuclear imaging systems
can affect image quality
• Consider shielding of:
 Injection locations
 Other Nuclear Medicine rooms
 Patient waiting areas
• Hot lab placement / material control can affect
image tuning & quality
• Proximity to MRI, X-Ray, & CT units can also impact
tuning & cause image artifacts
 OEM shielding characteristics and regulatory requirements
should be factored into facility layout
Environmental Concerns – Power Quality
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
• More than 3,600 outages in 2014, affecting 14M people*
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California, 525
New York, 399
Texas, 335
Michigan, 328
Pennsylvania, 294
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Ohio, 265
Illinois, 251
Washington, 226
North Carolina, 225
New Jersey, 225
• Power surges, brownouts, unstable power, and noise
are extremely harmful without proper protection
• Hard shutdowns can corrupt software files & stress
or permanently damage electronics / electrical components
*Eaton Blackout Tracker, United States Annual Report, 2014
Environmental Concerns – Power Quality, cont’d
• Power conditioning UPSs absorb spikes & fill in voltage sags
on the incoming AC power
• UPSs ensure better performance, longer life of the entire system
• Should be part of any purchase – new or reconditioned
• Proper UPS sizing:
 Provides time to finish current scan
and proceed with an orderly shutdown
 Never use for continual operation
 Is based upon make/model of system
• Battery life is approximately 3 years
based on normal usage
Preventive Maintenance
• If your system is working fine now,
it doesn’t mean it will continue to do so
down the road
• Setting aside time for preventive
maintenance is an insurance policy
against future downtime
• Establishing periodic inspection
& service can be based on time
and/or volume of activity
• Extending the life of system is paramount
given cost of acquisition (capital investment,
facility upgrades, etc.) & lower reimbursement
Preventive Maintenance, cont’d
• Recommended regular maintenance:
 Image Quality Checks – indicates current
operating condition of the detector
electronics. Used as a benchmark for
determining the need for adjustments
or recalibrations.
 Greasing/Lubrication – extends the life
of critical mechanical parts. The removal
of old grease & applying new grease
is simple & cost-effective insurance.
 Fans Replacement – ensures proper
cooling of the system. Overheating is the
most common cause of component failure.
Preventive Maintenance, cont’d
• Simple steps to ensure patient safety & reduce liability:
 Patient Tables – inspect critical stress points for cracks
and fractures that could lead to a patient catastrophe.
 Safety mechanisms – collision sensors & e-stops should be tested
periodically to ensure proper operation and safety.
Daily / Weekly Quality Checks – DIY
“How can you ensure your system runs smoothly
throughout a patient-filled day?”
Establish a Daily / Weekly Quality Routine!
• Use Cobalt sheet source for extrinsic daily floods
• Verify the Cobalt energy peak
• Performing a daily flood imaging
• Checking QC numbers
• Verifying that QC numbers are
within specification & haven’t
varied from the past day’s reading
Service Contracts
Your service provider should customize a plan that makes
sense for your system & budget.
• Full Service Maintenance: complete coverage of system
& peripherals.
• Co-Op First Pass: on-site equipment coverage split between
customer’s in-house engineers & our field service engineers.
• Preventive Maintenance Only: covers preventive maintenance
required to maintain highest quality system operation.
Service Contracts, cont’d
• Capped Camera Coverage: predetermined capped
service hours, parts, and technical support based
on equipment type & pricing schedule.
• Time & Materials Preferred: multi-system billable service
discounts for labor hours, parts, and travel.
Support “End of Life” Notification
“Have you received an ‘end-of-life’ or ‘end-of-service’
notification from the system OEM?”
Start Planning for the Mid- and Long-Term
• Find out what their obligations are under current contract
• Search for independent service organizations with expertise
on your make/model system
• Look for parts inventory, especially known faulty parts
• Keep new staff trained with certified classes taught by experts
that can provide hands-on experience
• You’ll save money in the long run!
Hard Drive Failure Concerns
• In the event of a hard drive crash, your system could be down
for days or weeks!
• Back-up your patient data, using an external archive solution
• Follow HIPAA & HITECH guidelines for patient data storage
• Catastrophic hard drive failure issues can be mitigated
using a special system archive solution called
Critical Product Recovery (CPR)
Critical Product Recovery (CPR)
• Software application that backs-up camera/system specific data
• Reduces downtime = more revenue
• Provides restoration of system quickly, instead of days
• Information saved includes:
 Acquisition protocols
 DICOM configuration
 Network roles & bindings, IP addresses
 Processing applications & protocols
 Display defaults & normalization files
 Gantry & detector corrections / calibrations
 Specialized OEM software (ex. AutoSpect+, AutoQuant)
Conclusion
Purchasing a SPECT system is the most important
investment your department will make.
To maximize the life of your investment, a program
must include: proper planning, regular maintenance,
and a trustworthy service partner is essential.
Question & Answer
Thank You!
Craig Diener
Senior Product Manager
Universal Medical Resources, Inc.
[email protected]
+1 636-239-3510, ext. 139