Top 10 Innovation: #1 | May 2nd, 2009 | Author: admin

Note: This is the final post for my Top 10 List of the medical equipment innovations with the greatest impact on facility design. My criteria was simple: Did the innovation create a significant change in the cost (Increase or Decrease) to design and construct the facility? The greater the overall impact, the higher the item appears on the list . I’ve limited my review to the 20 year period from 1990 – 2009. Please let me know your thoughts. What equipment innovations would you have added to the list?ﾠ

#1 Dry Film Processing

The shift from wet film processing to dry film processing has certainly had the most dramatic impact on healthcare facility design. Removing the plumbing requirements for developer & fixer tanks, water, drains, silver recovery and room ventilation were costly to design, construct and maintain.

Traditional dark rooms required dedicated space in the heart of what is one of the most expense department to build on a square foot basis. Today the processing equipment has moved from darkrooms to alcoves and control rooms, freeing more floor space and the ability to share that space with other functions. The specialized safe lights, doors and interlock systems have all disappeared from the landscape.

I worked on one project in the early 90’s that had engineered a dedicated silver recovery system to collected all of the used developer and fixer from 8 darkrooms into a single collection point. The system was cost-justified based on the silver recovery. Today the idea of silver recovery systems is about as remote as parking for a horse and buggy in today’s healthcare discussion..

The shift from x-ray film processing, to Computed Radiography (CR) to Direct Digital Radiography (DDR) has greatly improved the through put of imaging. The shift away from wet processing has been the single most significant change of the last 20 years for how hospitals are designed and equipped. Indeed, the filmless hospital is moving toward a completely digital process; from acquisition, to reading and archival.

It is the greatest example of the impact that technological evolution can have on healthcare design.

Tags: Darkroom, silver recovery, X-ray film processing

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