Ausgabe zur MEDICA 2019

10 Ausg.Nr._22/2019 medical devices A t the Medica 2019, steute Meditec will be present- ing new ideas for the operation of medical devices – for example a new wireless foot control for laser devices. The latest generation of a wireless technology developed especial- ly for medical equipment makes long battery lifetimes possible. The first lasers were developed nearly sixty years ago, and it is now hard to imagine medical equipment without them. First medical applications with lasers included ophthalmology (spe- cifically the treatment of cata- racts and glaucoma). Dermatol- ogy came next, swiftly followed by vascular surgery (specifically the gentle treatment of severe wound bleeding). Today all man- ner of medical disciplines, both diagnostic and therapeutic, have laser-based treatments us- ing a variety of light sources. Safety requirements for laser controls Laser devices are now found throughout the medical field and are usually operated via foot con- trols. Unintended actuation must be ruled out at all times. Special safety measures therefore apply, all of which are laid down in the IEC 60601-2-22 standard. Apart from prevention of unintended actuation, this standard also de- mands mechanical robustness and prescribes specific actuation forces. Depending on the appli- cation in question, it also stipu- lates IP classes to IEC 60529. The steute business unit Meditec began developing its first gen- eration of actuators for mobile laser devices in accordance with these specifications sixteen years ago. Even back then, ma- jor design features included a folding protective guard which prevents unintended actuation when locked in place (Fig. 1). The guard merely has to be tapped briefly in order to restore the functionality of the foot control. Latest generation: wireless actuation In the latest generation of laser foot controls, this function has remained – as has the very flat, ergonomic design. A new feature of the MKF-MED SK13 foot control (Fig. 2) is that it does not require a cable connecting it to the cor- responding device. Instead, the switch communicates with the (often mobile) laser unit by re- mote control. This communica- tion takes place using the third and latest generation of a wire- less technology developed espe- cially by steute for use with med- ical equipment. This technology uses the globally available 2.4 GHz ISM band and is approved for North America, Europe and Japan. Special features of this wireless technology include significantly reduced power consumption in conjunction with high (and ad- justable) transmission. Despite the low power consumption, the response time is very short: sig- nal transmission from an active foot control takes just 20 mil- liseconds. The system achieves SIL 3 to IEC 61508, Performance steute Meditec at the Medica Intuitive and wireless operation of medical devices The future: a single control for multiple medical devices Using wireless technology for signal transmission is crucial for the "interoperable OR" of the future: it means that multiple medical devices can be operated using a single control unit. steute Meditec is working intensively to achieve this goal, including as a member of the OR.NET association. OR.NET has developed the open "Service-oriented Device Connectivity" (SDC) standard, per- mitting multiple medical devices to be connected (Fig. 4). Amongst other things, integration of multiple medical devices has the advantage of enabling surgeons to concentrate better on the surgery because they no longer have to switch back and forth between different foot controls, each with its own user interface. In addition, better communication between devices improves processes within the OR since all relevant information can be displayed and pro- cessed at once. The current family of wireless foot controls already presented at the Medica is ready for dy- namic integration via SDC, as is the new laser wireless foot control which can be seen at the steute Medica booth this year. The first generation of laser wireless foot controls for the OR had cables. Hall 10 Booth E42