Practical guide to medical safety specs

Biomedical test instrumentation specialist Rigel Medical has published a free guide to the electrical safety requirements of IEC60601 - the electrotechnical safety standard for medical equipment.

Biomedical test instrumentation specialist Rigel Medical has published a free guide to the electrical safety requirements of IEC60601 - the international electrotechnical safety standard for medical equipment.

The new booklet provides an introduction to the implications and applications of the section IEC60601-1, which deals specifically with the electrical safety of medical equipment used in the monitoring and treatment of patients.

For example, during invasive treatments using patient connected equipment, the human body's natural protection organ, the skin, no longer provides the basic insulation against electrical currents and it is during these treatments that electrical currents as low as 50uA can result in fatality.

To govern the safe design and manufacture of medical equipment, the International Electrotechnical Committee has produced IEC60601.

Although this is a manufacturing safety standard, in the absence of formal guidelines for in-service electrical safety testing, its test specifications and limits are also used to ensure that equipment remains safe once it has been supplied and used in medical premises.

The new IEC60601-1 booklet available from Rigel Medical explains the requirements of the standard in easy to follow terms and provides all the relevant information in relation to commonly used definitions, symbols, different leakage measurements, schematics, pass/fail limits and single fault conditions.

This handy A5 booklet provides a useful guide for both new and experienced users of electromedical test equipment and provides an easy reference guide for electrical safety testing issues.

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