MSR data logger in use at Uroviva Services AG, Bülach
Moving sensitive high-tech medical equipment within operating theaters and between hospitals and clinics requires not only a high level of expertise but also state-of-the-art transport logistics.
Uroviva Services AG, which specializes in transporting medical equipment, uses data loggers for quality assurance. This enables the company to prove at any time when and where possible vibrations have affected a load and whether their intensity could have impaired the smooth functioning of the highly sensitive high-tech devices.
The number of highly sensitive medical devices and equipment being transported by road is steadily increasing across the country. The sensitive high-tech devices are exposed to great stresses and risks such as shocks and vibrations. Handling within the operating theaters of hospitals and clinics, loading and reloading the devices, truck journeys over bumpy roads and forecourts are typical risk situations in which the equipment could be damaged.
Uroviva Services AG has set itself the goal of moving such highly sensitive high-tech medical devices from A to B using state-of-the-art transportation logistics. The company, based in Bülach, is part of the Uroviva network, the renowned competence center for urology, which provides a significant proportion of urological care in the canton of Zurich at various locations and with around 9,000 patients cared for each year.
Monitoring transports for quality assurance and proof of best practice
The autonomous MSR165 data logger with integrated 3-axis acceleration sensor is used at Uroviva Services AG to monitor the demanding transportation of sensitive medical devices and to record and document any jolts, vibrations and shocks. The highly sensitive sensor registers accelerations that occur when the logger moves in all three axes: forwards-backwards (x), right-left (y), up-down (z). As the data logger is subject to permanent gravity (acceleration due to gravity), this can also be used to determine the actual position.
By determining the position and the acceleration forces, the data analysis can identify the loads to which the load was subjected. Depending on the choice of sensors, the MSR165 can be used to measure both direct influences on the load, e.g. forces and accelerations, as well as indirect influencing factors such as temperature, humidity, pressure or light.
If no threshold values are set, the MSR165 enables continuous transportation measurements for up to 3 days at a measurement rate of 1600 measurements per second. If threshold values are set, the MSR165 data logger can be used for up to six months of shock monitoring. For an even longer recording period, the user has the option of an autonomous charging station or long-term batteries. Shock monitoring with the MSR165 is possible up to ±15 g or ±200 g. 32 measured values are recorded before the event. The logger's standard memory capacity of over two million measured values is sufficient to record over 10,000 shocks, but Uroviva Service AG uses the version with memory extension for its application. This gives their logger a storage capacity of over one billion measured values. Due to its very small external dimensions, low weight and the sensors and power supply built into the data logger itself, the MSR165 can be attached directly to the housing of a device to be transported. There is no need to lay any cables that would hinder handling. The ability to simply charge the battery via the USB port of a notebook and program the measurement parameters at the same time makes handling the data logger much easier.
Why you should use a data logger during transportation
Uroviva Services AG uses an MSR165 data logger for every transport for reasons of quality assurance and to demonstrate best practice. This ensures that the vibrations acting on the load are recorded during the entire journey on country roads, highways and in city traffic. Thanks to the seamless recording and documentation, the company can prove at any time when and where possible impacts or vibrations have affected the load and whether their intensity could have impaired the smooth functionality of the highly sensitive high-tech equipment. Based on the measurement data and transport routes recorded during transport and loading procedures, the transport route, means of transport and load securing can also be significantly optimized.