How Often Should X-Ray Machines Be Serviced?

X-ray machine maintenance is an essential requirement to ensure your medical imaging equipment meets regulations and quality performance standards. But how often do you need this service?   

Delivering the best quality care for your patients relies on investing in the highest quality personnel, equipment, and resources. And even after the initial investment, the responsibility lies in sustaining that these high standards remain consistent across the board.

So, whether you work in a doctor’s surgery, medical centre or dentist practice, maintaining the quality of your X-ray machines or other medical imaging equipment is essential for your reputation as a healthcare provider. Today, we discuss how often to service your X-ray machine alongside other significant medical imagining maintenance and management services.

 

How Often Should an X-Ray Machine Be Serviced?

Regardless of your sector, as a general rule, X-ray machines should be serviced at least once every three years. However, there are specific checks for different types of X-ray machines depending on your industry. For example, with radiological testing concerning intra-oral, panoramic, and panoramic/cephalometric X-ray sets, you must test your machine once every three years.

A dental X-ray machine should be serviced with an electrical and mechanical check (EMC) once a year before a routine quality assurance test every three years unless it’s a handheld device, then do it annually.

Critical examination and acceptance should also target tube heads and timers and if the machine has relocated. The official UK 26 Medical Diagnostic X-ray Equipment points out the quality assurance for X-ray equipment with patient and staff protection alongside X-ray equipment records.

What About X-Ray Machine Maintenance?

X-ray machine servicing needs to be a part of your X-ray preventive maintenance programme. You can divide this agenda into three sections:

• Functional verification
• Interior cleaning
• Mechanical and electrical testing

The functional verification includes X-ray production, image acquisition and movement. Overall, this provides a baseline for performance with image quality assessments. As good practice, two tests should be completed to maintain the quality and performance of the machine are clearly consistent.

Interior cleaning will involve cleaning the system to remove any debris or dust that can interfere with the movement, distort images, and prevent cooling. With interior cleaning, you increase the durability of the machine. Remember that the tabletop, collimator, and tube should also get cleaned to the same standards.

Finally, the mechanical and electrical testing includes safety interlock, warming lamp, and sensor tests. Inspection and verification will also cover mounting hardware and wire terminations.

If your machine has motion manipulation, then the control operation and axis will be assessed. Mechanical and electrical testing also includes any workstation functions. And lastly, before you invest, check that X-ray maintenance gets completed by an expert medical imaging engineer.

A Handy X-Ray Machine Maintenance Checklist

To help ensure you sustain the high-quality performance and longevity of your X-ray machine and medical imaging equipment, it helps to establish an X-ray machine maintenance that covers safety, operation and product quality control.

So, as an overview, your overall X-ray machine maintenance should involve the following services:

• Schedule regular preventive maintenance.
• Carry out general function checks.
• Conduct electrical safety checks.
• Conduct regular tube cleaning.
• Assess every X-ray machine feature and component.
• Create the ideal environment to support your X-ray machine performance.
• Provide technical specifications to ensure the equipment receives correct operation.
• Conduct interior and exterior cleaning.
• Run routine mechanical tests.

A specific maintenance checklist that covers each component depends on your machine.

For example:

• General system – Generator, table and bucky, table suspension, tube and collimator, AEC controls, upright bucky, control panel, and tomography component.
• Fluoroscopy – Generator and Tube.
• Fluoroscopy tower – Image intensifier and camera.
• Mammography unit – Generator, Compression Device, Control Panel, Grid and Bucky, Tube and Collimator.

Establishing the correct checklist for your X-ray machine maintenance is the best way to make sure your machine lasts and sustains the highest quality performance.

Medical Imaging Management and Product Servicing

Beyond X-ray machine servicing, there are other management, training and product-serving solutions available. These services can include the provision of professional UK medical imaging engineers and medical imaging training.

When investing in any of these services, look for ISO 13485:2016 compliance and relevant EU Services Directive for the Provision of Services Regulations 2009.

Find Your Local X-Ray Machine Maintenance Experts

At Wolverson X-Ray Limited, we provide a specialist technical department that offers 24/7 support for all your medical imaging requirements.

Our approach to product development, customer service and sales support ensures all our clients receive the highest service standards with management and product servicing across our range of medical imaging equipment. These standards also include medical imaging accessories, safety equipment and specialist hospital furniture.

So, for information on how we can provide you with professional X-ray machine maintenance and other medical imaging services, get in touch today.

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