By John Garrett
It is well-known that for the service and repair of medical imaging equipment, there is a continuing shortage of Field Service Engineers (FSE). Many of the individuals that are brought into the area of medical imaging equipment repair are drawn from the BMET community. Yet so many skills that were assumed to exist within that community are sadly fading away. One that will have the largest long-term impact is the basic understanding of electronics. Being able to read schematics, understanding how a basic power supply works, knowing the standard way AC is converted to DC, the various types of switching, and electron flow are just some examples. Knowing how to measure current or how to use an oscilloscope to measure ripple on a DC power supply are other examples of fading skills.
Individuals who are specialized in medical imaging repair are most often referred to as FSEs. Traditionally, the people who filled those positions were very much engineers. They used schematics and knowledge of electronics to repair to component level when it made sense to do so. Some still do. However, many individuals who have entered the field are not soundly rooted in electronics. Basic troubleshooting skills are often not taught. The idea of half-splitting or linear troubleshooting a circuit is a foreign concept.
There are a number of reasons for this development. The manufacturers have a service model that has become board swap to repair instead of troubleshooting down to component level. To further this end, they often use “functional schematics” instead of actual schematic drawings of the circuit. This often makes it difficult to troubleshoot as actual components are not shown. The location of inputs and outputs for a circuit board may or may not be listed. In the manufacturer model, this information is not necessary for the FSE to do their job. A side effect is that it is more difficult to troubleshoot a failure that is not a circuit board or other major part. This makes the in-house job more difficult.
For many companies when there is a service call they follow a model that is different than what would be ideal for the in-house team. Using the functional diagrams an issue is narrowed to a specific area and limits the failure to two to four different Field Replaceable Units (FRU), also called parts. They ship all possible failing parts out to the FSE to replace in order of highest to lowest failure rate. The parts not used are shipped back to the warehouse location. If this requires more than the functional diagrams, the manufacturer has specialists who have access to additional information including schematics, failure rates of specific FSUs, and all field service notes. For most manufacturers, this has been deemed the most cost-effective way of providing corrective service to customers. It allows for reduced training and a broad range of skill levels to be able to service equipment. The down side is that it requires a larger inventory of parts. This is what drives the manufacturer’s rates for contracts and service. The upside for manufacturers is that they can provide a consistent level of service with relatively inexperienced FSEs all across the world. Yet the cost is relatively high, and that drives the amount a hospital or imaging center will have to pay for service.
This is what allows an in-house system to be worth developing for most sites. However, as the years go by, there is less focus on electronics basics for the individuals who will be repairing medical equipment. It will take the hiring managers/companies working with colleges to ensure the level of electronic competence required for the medical imaging FSE is provided by those programs. Bringing new talent on may require an investment in additional training. The additional training may be at a college or trade school, or even the development of an in-house training program. A local healthcare technology management association (HTMA) can also have an impact. By speaking as a group, they can help shape the college education and even create standalone electronics instruction and refresher courses. But, it will take the community to ensure these skills are brought back to the forefront of the industry.
John Garrett has 20 years experience in imaging service including general radiation, mammography, CT and nuclear medicine. He has worked for third-party service companies, manufacturers, sales companies and in-house imaging teams.
