Ultrasound Maintenance

One of the most common requests from our customers is for ultrasound and transducer maintenance.  Although maintenance procedures vary by manufacturer the ultrasound and transducers or probes must undergo electrical safety testing at least once a year.  For manufacturers that don’t have regular maintenance procedures they may have performance testing procedures instead.

Common standards should be referenced and used in the testing and maintenance of ultrasounds and transducers such as NFPA 99 or IEC 60601-1.

Why Is This Important

Patients undergoing ultrasound are sometimes already in a compromised state, they may have pacemakers and probes may be inserted through the esophagus near the heart.  Electrical safety testing and regular maintenance seeks to limit these hazards by identifying them for repair or removal from patient use.  Proximity to flammable anesthetic agents and other flammable gases such as supplemental oxygen in addition to anesthetized patients is another consideration as to why this is important.

Dos and Don’ts

• Schedule electrical safety testing for your ultrasound and transducer(s) at least once every 12 months
• Read the user and service manual for specific maintenance procedures and frequencies¹
• Never use a transducer that shows signs of physical damage, always remove it from service until repaired or replaced²
• Understand what level of service you are being provided; Quince Medical will give a complete checklist with numerical values whereas some service providers don’t offer an explanation of services rendered

Benefits of ultrasound maintenance

Here’s a list of often-overlooked benefits of electrical safety testing and maintenance

1. Reduced cost (by finding issues with transducers earlier it lowers the total cost of ownership by preventing small problems from becoming larger ones)
2. Increased operator safety
3. Equipment longevity
4. Staying compliant with guidelines for patient use

Need to schedule an appointment?

If you need to schedule an appointment for ultrasound maintenance here are some ways to do so.

1. Call us at 973-521-8769 ext. 1 or toll-free at 866-601-8353 ext. 1
2. Email us at [email protected] or [email protected]³
3. Fill out this form

¹Sometimes a client or customer’s governing body may require more frequent testing than what is called for in the user and service manuals.
²Even if a transducer passes electrical leakage testing it should always be removed from service.
³Please include your name, business name, and phone number