The central equipment pool, an opportunity for improved technology management.

A model for a central equipment pool managed by a clinical engineering department has been presented. The advantages to patient care and to the clinical engineering department are many. The distribution of portable technology that has been traditionally managed by the materials management function is a logical match to the expanding role of clinical engineering departments in technology management.

Equipment maintenance: moving beyond insurance to self-managed programs.

Equipment maintenance insurance is a recent development that has achieved some cost savings for hospitals. However, greater cost savings can be achieved by a centrally managed self-insurance program that crosses departmental lines. The benefits of such programs are further enhanced when they are run by a technical rather than a financial person.

Orbitotonography, the dynamic assessment of orbital tension: 2. Results in patients with orbital disease.

Dynamic orbitotonography was done in 17 patients with Graves' disease, 25 patients with orbital tumours and 15 healthy subjects. The mean orbital pressure for both patient groups was significantly different from that for the healthy subjects at each time interval (p less than 0.001).

Effect of alternating current stimulation of the spinal cord on recovery from acute spinal cord injury in rats.

The therapeutic value of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord was studied in rats injured by acute compression of the spinal cord. Twenty adult Wistar rats underwent cord compression at T6-7 by the extradural clip compression technique at a force of 125 g for 1 minute. After injury and group randomization, stimulating electrodes were placed extradurally, proximal and distal to the injury site, and attached to a small, implantable receiver-stimulator.

A microcomputer system for on-line collection of blood flow and related physiological data.

A multi-disciplinary approach is described for the development of a microcomputer based on-line data collection system for blood flow experiments. Well designed software provides a flexible approach to data collection, which is particularly suited to blood flow research laboratories. The choice of well supported hardware ensures ease of development with minimum time and cost.