Overview

Understand the working of biomedical devices that are frequently used in a hospital setting. Develop the skills required to effectively maintain and troubleshoot hospital-based devices to increase their availability and usage in hospitals.

Maintaining and troubleshooting sophisticated medical instruments is not an easy task. In order to deliver effective care, the technician requires the knowledge of different aspects of biology and engineering. The different devices work in so many different ways and the literature about repair and troubleshooting is often hard to come by. It can be quite frustrating to search for solutions every time the operator encounters a problem. There is added pressure because the availability of medical devices is critical for therapeutic and diagnostic care. The longer a device stays out of operation, the slower the hospital would be able to deliver care to the patients.

This course has been designed by the interdisciplinary collaboration of both TU Delft biomedical engineers as well as the local expertise of the medical technicians of the Nick Simons Institute in Nepal to help new and emerging biomedical engineers/technicians working in low-income hospitals to care for biomedical equipment.

This course provides a compilation of the techniques hospitals use to effectively maintain and troubleshoot the medical devices so that repair time is reduced and the availability and safety of the medical devices is improved. Completing this course adds a complementary skill set to prior competence of the learner to perform maintenance routines and diagnose problems in sophisticated equipment with care. A faster service routine will help smoothen the process flow of the hospital and help extend the care to more patients. On a personal level, the learner can rely on the knowledge gained from this course as ‘the blueprint’ for whenever they have to maintain/troubleshoot any medical device.

Accredited Course
This course is accredited by the Dutch Association for Specialists in Sterile Medical Tools (VDSMH). Verified learners who have successfully completed the course (or program) and obtained a certificate can claim accreditation points at one of the professional bodies they are members of.

What You'll Learn

  • Understand the basics of a variety of commonly used diagnostic, therapeutic and laboratory instruments
  • Effectively maintain, troubleshoot and repair biomedical instruments
  • Sharpen the skill set of troubleshooting a biomedical instrument in a short period of time.
  • Reduce the repair time and cost by using effective proven strategies and practices.

Quote from Learners

"I Increased my knowledge in the Healthcare Technology Management field, specifically in the planning, selection and procurement phase of the operations. Excellent delivery, very flexible and efficient." - Walid Awdat, Technical Operations Senior Manager from Jordan

Details

Course Syllabus

Week 1:
Basics of anatomy and physiology
Basic physical phenomena driving biomedical devices
The need for proper and effective maintenance
The need for swift and efficient troubleshooting

Week 2:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of diagnostic instruments. (Patient monitors, X-ray, and digital radiography)

Week 3:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of diagnostic instruments. (Ultrasonography, Otoscope)

Week 4:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of therapeutic instruments. (Ventilators, Oxygen concentrators)

Week 5:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of therapeutic instruments. (Electrosurgical units, suction machines, anesthesia machines, Operating Theatre lights)

Week 6:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of laboratory instruments. (autoclave, centrifuge, analyzer and colorimeter)

Week 7:
Maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of laboratory instruments. (microscope, haematometer, electrolyte analyzer, incubator water bath)

License

Unless otherwise specified, the Course Materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Qualifications

Certificates
This course is offered on edX.org for free but a certificate is available for a fee.

Accredited Course
This course is accredited by the Dutch Association for Specialists in Sterile Medical Tools (VDSMH) and by the Dutch Association for Hospital Instrumentation Technicians (VZI). Verified learners who have successfully completed the course (or program) and obtained a certificate can claim accreditation points at one of the professional bodies they are members of.

How to request your points?
You can request accreditation points at one of the professional bodies mentioned above. You can do so by sending us an email indicating:

  • Name and last name
  • Name of the professional body 
  • Copy of the certificate
  • User ID 

The request must be sent within 2 weeks from the course completion.

Admission

This is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that runs on edX.

Prerequisites

Basic undergraduate-level knowledge about electromagnetic circuits.

Basic higher secondary school understanding of physics and math.

  • Starts: Anytime (Self-Paced)
  • Free | Earn certificate for $50
  • Length: Self-Paced
  • Effort: 4 - 6 hours per week / 10 weeks
  • Format: Online course

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