What is PD IEC/TS 62462 - Maintenance of ultrasound physiotherapy systems about?
PD IEC/TS 62462 is a safety standard on the maintenance of ultrasound physiotherapy systems.
PD IEC/TS 62462 describes methods meant to assist users of ultrasound physiotherapy systems in checking the performance of such systems.
PD IEC/TS 62462 is applicable primarily to physiotherapists, general medical practitioners, chiropractors, osteopaths, beauty therapists, sports professionals, biomedical engineers, medical physicists, medical device service agents, commercial testers, test houses, or manufacturers.
Note: Typical ultrasound physiotherapy systems operate in the range from 0,5 MHz to 5 MHz. Long-wave ultrasound therapy machines operating in the frequency range 30 kHz to 0,5 MHz are not covered by PD IEC/TS 62462.
Who is PD IEC/TS 62462- Maintenance of ultrasound physiotherapy systems for?
PD IEC/TS 62462 on guidance for the maintenance of ultrasound physiotherapy systems is relevant to:
- Testing authorities
- Biomedical engineers
- Medical physicists
- Medical device service agents
- Commercial testers and test houses
- National measurement institutes
- Manufacturers of ultrasound physiotherapy devices
- Physiotherapists
- General medical practitioners
- Chiropractors
- Osteopaths
- Beauty therapists
- Sports professionals
Why should you use PD IEC/TS 62462- Maintenance of ultrasound physiotherapy systems?
To ensure that the ultrasound physiotherapy equipment is in an appropriate condition for use, a regular quality check can be performed. PD IEC/TS 62462 defines acceptance, weekly and annual checks.
The acceptance test checks the delivery of the device and its performance at the start of its lifetime. The weekly check is a simple qualitative check of device operation. In the annual check, in addition to a qualitative check, a quantitative check is defined. Examples are provided of weekly and annual test reports. The purpose of PD IEC/TS 62462 is to establish standard methods for a qualitative check of the performance of ultrasound physiotherapy devices during their lifetime and to provide guidance on calibration requirements and techniques. PD IEC/TS 62462 also gives guidance to the testers concerning the measurement of acoustic output. Annual testing is performed by a skilled tester, e.g., biomedical engineer, medical physicist, medical device service agent, commercial tester, test house, national measurement institute, or manufacturer.
Overall, PD IEC/TS 62462 is useful as it assists in measuring the range of non-uniformity in the ultrasound beam produced by the treatment head, calculated from the ratio of the acoustic intensity measured at the most intense part of the ultrasound beam to the spatial average acoustic intensity measured for that treatment head.