Equipment Variety:
Generally, the Department of Biomedical Sciences calibrates and maintains the medical equipment used in the hospital, unless the equipment is subject to a warranty or maintenance contract that requires maintenance by an outside company. All incoming equipment is fully tested, meaning that every line of software code is run through or every possible setting is tested and verified. Most equipment has this testing process designed to be simple and precise. Many biomedical devices need to be sterilized, but this poses some special problems, as most sterilization techniques result in damage to the machine or materials. Most medical equipment is either safe on its own or has added other equipment or systems to detect possible malfunctions and in the event of a malfunction the system is shut down or switched to an inoperable safe state. A typical basic requirement is that no single malfunction at any time during its life cycle can make the treatment process unsafe. See the discussion of the process of designing safe systems in Safety Engineering.
Imaging technologies such as MRIs, X-rays, CTs, PET scans, and PET-CT scans are often the most sophisticated equipment in a hospital. New devices invented after X-rays are pacemakers, infusion pumps, heart-lung machines, dialysis machines, diagnostic equipment, artificial organs, transplants, and advanced remedial procedures.