Method of determining maintenance service in accordance with medical equipment condition

• US 7,970,623 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Takada, Yoichi, Miyauchi, Akihiro, Takayama, Takuzo
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): BURGESS, JOSEPH D
• Application Number:
  US10/946,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20050103354A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,470 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3, 378/4, 707/201, 700/79, 702/184, 701/29, 709/227
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00057 provided with means for testing or calibration
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0271 using a remote monitoring unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/56 Details of data transmission or power supply, e.g. use of slip rings
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/581 Remote testing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/00 Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves imaging of objects using sonar G01S15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/00 Instruments, implements or accessories specially adapted for surgery or diagnosis and not covered by any of the groups A61B1/00 - A61B50/00, e.g. for luxation treatment or for protecting wound edges protective face masks A41D13/11; surgeon's or patient's gowns or dresses A41D13/12; devices for carrying-off, for treatment of, or for carrying-over, body liquids A61M1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades

Abstract

A method of managing at least one maintenance work on a medical equipment installed in a medical facility, starts by collecting condition information of the medical equipment. The method continues by determining the maintenance work on the medical equipment based on the collected condition information, and making it possible to provide a maintenance staff with information of the determined maintenance work.

Claims

1. A method of managing at least one maintenance work on medical diagnosis equipment installed in a medical facility, the method comprising:

collecting condition information of the medical diagnosis equipment, the condition information including operating condition information of the medical diagnosis equipment;

determining, by a system control unit of a service center, that maintenance work on the medical equipment should be performed when the collected condition information exceeds reference information;

providing maintenance staff with information of the determined maintenance work; and

updating the reference information by calculating an average value of the condition information at a time of failure of the medical diagnosis equipment and condition information of other medical diagnosis equipment similar to the medical diagnosis equipment, comparing the calculated average value to the reference information, and replacing the reference information with the calculated average value when the calculated average value is less than the reference information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the determined maintenance work includes at least one of information of a part on which the determined maintenance work is to be conducted and information of a work procedure.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when a plurality of the maintenance work is determined, the information of the determined maintenance work includes information identifying another determined maintenance work which can be concurrently conducted with the determined maintenance work.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the determined maintenance work includes information of a standard work time required for the maintenance work.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the information of the standard work time is updated based on past actual work time spent on conducting the maintenance work.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the condition information further includes at least one of environmental condition information and performance information of the medical equipment.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the medical diagnosis equipment is an X-ray CT apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of at least one of an accumulated powered time, X-ray radiation time, X-ray tube voltage, X-ray tube current, and a number of gantry rotation of the X-ray CT apparatus.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the medical equipment is an MRI apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of an accumulated powered time of the MRI apparatus.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the medical diagnosis equipment is an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of at least one of an accumulated powered time, X-ray radiation time, X-ray tube voltage, and X-ray tube current of the X-ray diagnosis apparatus.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein, the medical diagnosis equipment is an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of an ultrasound generating time of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the environmental condition information includes information of at least one of temperature and humidity.

12. The method according to claim 6, wherein the performance information includes information of an image quality parameter of the medical diagnosis equipment.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step includes storing the information of the determined maintenance work in a WEB server in an accessible manner for the maintenance staff.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step includes transmitting the information of the determined maintenance work to a terminal of the maintenance staff through a communication line.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step includes storing the information of the determined maintenance work in a portable memory medium.

16. A method of managing a maintenance work on medical diagnosis equipment installed in a medical facility, the method comprising:

designating equipment identification information identifying the medical equipment;

collecting condition information of the medical diagnosis equipment identified by the designated equipment identification information;

comparing the collected condition information to reference information;

determining, by a system control unit of a service center, work identification information identifying the maintenance work based on the comparison;

providing maintenance staff with information of the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information; and

updating the reference information by calculating an average value of the condition information at a time of failure of the medical diagnosis equipment and condition information of other medical diagnosis equipment similar to the medical diagnosis equipment, comparing the calculated average value to the reference information, and replacing the reference information with the calculated average value when the calculated average value is less than the reference information.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the step of collecting condition information includes collecting condition information of a part included in the medical equipment identified by the designated equipment identification information.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the information of the maintenance work includes part identification information identifying a part relating to the collected condition information compared to the reference information when the work identification information is determined based on the comparison.

19. The method according to claim 17, further comprising generating a list of part identification information identifying a part relating to the collected condition information compared to the reference information when the work identification information is determined based on the comparison.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the generated list of part identification information is compared to information of an in-stock part, and the part identified by the listed part identification information which is not included in the information of the in-stock part is automatically ordered.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the information of the maintenance work is provided for the maintenance work to be conducted periodically.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein the information of the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information is provided in preference to information of an ordinary maintenance work when the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information and the ordinary maintenance work pertain to a same subject.

23. A maintenance system for managing at least one maintenance work on medical diagnosis equipment installed in a medical facility, the system comprising:

a collecting unit configured to collect condition information of the medical equipment, the condition information including operating condition information of the medical diagnosis equipment;

a memory configured to store the collected condition information;

a controller coupled to the collecting unit and configured to determine that maintenance work on the medical equipment should be performed when the collected condition information exceeds reference information, wherein the controller is configured to update the reference information by calculating an average value of the condition information at a time of failure of the medical diagnosis equipment and condition information of other medical diagnosis equipment similar to the medical diagnosis equipment, comparing the calculated average value to the reference information, and replacing the reference information with the calculated average value when the calculated average value is less than the reference information; and

a provider coupled to the controller and configured to provide maintenance staff with information of the determined maintenance work.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein the information of the determined maintenance work includes at least one of information of a part on which the determined maintenance work is conducted and information of a work procedure.

25. The system according to claim 23, wherein, when a plurality of the maintenance work is determined, the information of the determined maintenance work includes information identifying another determined maintenance work which can be concurrently conducted with the determined maintenance work.

26. The system according to claim 23, wherein the information of the determined maintenance work includes information of a standard work time required for the maintenance work.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the information of the standard work time is updated based on past actual work time spent on conducting the maintenance work.

28. The system according to claim 23, wherein the condition information further includes at least one of environmental condition information and performance information of the medical diagnosis equipment.

29. The system according to claim 28, wherein the medical diagnosis equipment is an X-ray CT apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of at least one of an accumulated powered time, X-ray radiation time, X-ray tube voltage, X-ray tube current, and a number of gantry rotation of the X-ray CT apparatus.

30. The system according to claim 28, wherein the medical diagnosis equipment is an MRI apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of an accumulated powered time of the MRI apparatus.

31. The system according to claim 28, wherein the medical diagnosis equipment is an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of at least one of an accumulated powered time, X-ray radiation time, X-ray tube voltage, and X-ray tube current of the X-ray diagnosis apparatus.

32. The system according to claim 28, wherein, the medical diagnosis equipment is an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, and the operating condition information includes information of an ultrasound generating time of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

33. The system according to claim 28, wherein the environmental condition information includes information of at least one of temperature and humidity.

34. The system according to claim 28, wherein the performance information includes information of an image quality parameter of the medical diagnosis equipment.

35. The system according to claim 23, wherein the provider stores the information of the determined maintenance work in a WEB server in an accessible manner for the maintenance staff.

36. The system according to claim 23, wherein the provider transmits the information of the determined maintenance work to an terminal of the maintenance staff through a communication line.

37. The system according to claim 23, wherein the provider stores the information of the determined maintenance work in a portable memory medium.

38. A maintenance system for managing maintenance work on medical diagnosis equipment installed in a medical facility, the system comprising:

a designator configured to designate equipment identification information identifying the medical equipment;

a memory coupled to the designator and configured to store the equipment identification information, condition information of the medical equipment identified by the equipment identification information, benchmark information for comparing the condition information to reference information, and work identification information identifying the maintenance work resulting from a comparison based on the benchmark information in a related manner;

a controller coupled to the memory and configured to determine the work identification information based on the designated equipment identification information, wherein the controller is configured to update the reference information by calculating an average value of the condition information at a time of failure of the medical diagnosis equipment and condition information of other medical diagnosis equipment similar to the medical diagnosis equipment, comparing the calculated average value to the reference information, and replacing the reference information with the calculated average value when the calculated average value is less than the reference information; and

a provider coupled to the controller and configured to provide maintenance staff with information of the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information.

39. The system according to claim 38, wherein the memory further stores part identification information identifying a part included in the medical diagnosis equipment identified by the equipment identification information, and the benchmark information relates to the part identification information.

40. The system according to claim 38, wherein the memory further stores part identification information in relationship to at least one of the benchmark information and the work identification information, the part identification information identifying a part included in the medical diagnosis equipment identified by the equipment identification information, the part being associated with a result of the comparison based on the benchmark information, and the information of the maintenance work includes the part identification information related to at least one of the work identification information and the benchmark information resulting in the work identification information.

41. The system according to claim 38, wherein the memory further stores part identification information in relationship to at least one of the benchmark information and the work identification information, the part identification information identifying a part included in the medical diagnosis equipment identified by the equipment identification information, the part being associated with a result of the comparison based on the benchmark information, and a list of part identification information related to at least one of the work identification information and the benchmark information resulting in the work identification information.

42. The system according to claim 41, wherein the list of part identification information is compared to information of in-stock part and the part identified by the listed part identification information which is not included in the information of in-stock part is automatically ordered.

43. The system according to claim 38, wherein the information of the maintenance work is provided for the maintenance work to be conducted periodically.

44. The system according to claim 38, wherein the information of the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information is provided in preference to information of an ordinary maintenance work when the maintenance work identified by the determined work identification information and the ordinary maintenance work pertain to a same subject.