Re: millennium

["Jean-Francois Avon" <jf_avon@citenet.net>]

On Sat, 20 Feb 1999 17:12:41 +0100, holist wrote:

>Here in beautiful Hungary, I heard a person on radio whose credentials and
>cogent argument (a rare occasion on Hungarian radio) both suggested he knew
>what he was talking about say that an estimated 20 to 80% (!!) of hospital
>equipment (x-rays, other diagnostic devices, obstetric devices, life
>support systems) would irreversably fail, while a proportion of the rest
>may require repair.

I used to be a service technician for medical x-ray machines.  I don't know 
about the level of technology that is implemented in eastern technology 
machines.  Here, although several have micro-controllers, the regular 
workhorse of medicine doens't have any date-dependacy in it.

I suspect that in the last fifteen years, more of theses chips found their way 
in our machine here in the western world, but I suspect that in the East bloc, 
it did not.

AFAIK, while CAT-Scans and highly computerized machines could get affected, 
most regular X-Ray machines won't stop functionning.   Mechanical tomographs, 
which gave very usefull images, unfortunately were sytematically purchased 
back by scan manufacturers for destruction.  Unfortunately, in certain cases, 
a mechanical tomograph will give a better image (i.e. leading to a more 
accurate diagnostic) than a CAT-scan.  But still, the workhorse of medicine 
are NOT the tomograph or CAT scans.  It is not because, in the USA, everybody 
wants and ask for CAT-scans that they are truly required...  Very often, a 50 
bucks regular picture would give just as good and appropriate diagnostic 
capability as a 1000 bucks CAT scan.  CAT scans are way overprescribed.  The 
patients ASK for them, so why wouldn't the doctor prescribe them?  Mega-bucks 
are on the line...

But overall, the workhorse of radiology, i.e. the simple tube machine and the 
the fluoroscope machines are very unlikely to stop functionning.  AFAIK, none 
of theses machine include mandatory programmed maintenance.  The machine 
doesn't give a damn about what date it is.  Even the highly computerized 
machines like the CAT scans probably don't.

The computerisation of the workhorse machines is largely a scam for the 
manufacturer to make more money on maintenance.  While it is true that it can 
bring some productivity improvement, it usually not improve the bottom line 
who'se the diagnostic potential itself.  X-Rays today are generated in just 
about the same way as they were a 100 years ago...

X-ray film developping machines might just pose a *bigger* problem than the X-
ray machines themselves, for they are very likely to have scheduled 
maintenance intervals.  But worse comes to worst, you can always hire three 
twits to hand-develop the films from buckets in a darkroom...

AAMOF, you'd be surprized by the large percentage of dental offices that still 
develop their dental x-ray films in a fully manual way, in a completely dark 
room (usually, a small converted closet), hand-dipping the films in trays with 
developping solutions and rinsing them in a sink later on.

Ciao

jfa