Automated technique for high-pressure water-based window cleaning and accompanying parametric study.

The maintenance of buildings has become an important issue with the construction of many high-rise buildings in recent years. However, the cleaning of the outer walls of buildings is performed in highly hazardous environments over long periods, and many accidents occur each year. Various robots are being studied and developed to reduce these incidents and to relieve workers from hazardous tasks. Herein, we propose a method of spraying high-pressure water using a pump and nozzle, which differs from conventional methods. The cleaning performance parameters, such as water pressure, spray angle, and spray distance, were optimized using the Taguchi method. Cleaning experiments were performed on window specimens that were contaminated artificially. The cleaning performance of the proposed method was evaluated using the image-evaluation method. The optimum condition was determined based on the results of a sensitive analysis performed on the image data. In addition, the reaction force due to high pressure and impact force on the specimens were investigated. These forces were not sufficient to affect the propeller thrust or cause damage to the building's surface. We expect to perform field tests in the near future based on the output of this research.

Trends in medical equipment service.

Driven by the recent emphasis on cost containment in the healthcare industry as a whole, hospitals, manufacturers, and service providers have been spurred to try to find ways to reduce their costs and increase their revenues. As a result of the measures taken to achieve these goals, the medical equipment service industry has been experiencing a period of rapid change. In this environment, traditional alternatives for servicing medical equipment are being challenged, and new alternatives are being developed. The changes occurring in this industry are of vital interest to clinical engineers and technicians because it is those changes that will determine the future role of these professionals in the hospital. While such technology experts will not become obsolete-the reliance on medical technology to provide optimal healthcare will certainly continue in the United States and throughout the rest of the developed world-the roles of these experts could very likely change. As hospitals focus more narrowly on their core functions, noncore functions such as servicing and managing technology will come under scrutiny as possible candidates for outsourcing to reduce the hospital's administrative responsibilities and cut its cost burden. In this article, we review the recent past of the medical equipment service industry and describe some current trends that will play a role in shaping the future of this industry. We also discuss how the changes currently taking place will likely affect the viability of in-house clinical engineering departments. In our discussion, we spotlight service issues related to radiology equipment because (1) this equipment dominates service expenditures and (2) the servicing of these devices has spawned some of the changes causing hospitals to reexamine how all their medical equipment is being serviced and managed.

Ambulance trends for the '90s.

The changing profile of the EMS professional--with increased access to technology, better education and more experience--has dictated that ambulances, too, evolve along with the profession. How will ambulances change over the next decade? EMS recently asked some of the industry's leading manufacturers for their predictions.