Identifying Different Types of Medical Batteries
There are three types of medical batteries commonly seen in hospitals and clinical settings, and it is important to be able to distinguish them in order to know which custom battery adapter is the right fit when analyzing battery life:
Removable batteries: Nurses charge these packs on charging stations and get periodic analysis in the service center. Typical uses are defibrillators, infusion pumps, diabetic monitors, and surgical tools.
Built-in batteries: Increasingly, batteries are internal to the devices and are charged while the device is connected to the grid. Battery maintenance is done by the bio-med technician by opening the instrument. Typical uses are modern defibrillators, patient monitors, ventilators, surgical tools.
Standby batteries: These batteries are built into instruments on
wheels and service as backup during transit and at bed-side. Many of these
batteries are still lead acid. The depth of discharge is small if the nurse
remembers to connect the AC cord. Typical uses are COW (Computer-on-wheels)
blood transfusion units, as well as portable x-ray.
Dave Marlow, a certified biomedical equipment technician at the University of Michigan Health System, categorizes the battery as a “mixed bag of challenges”, with different medical facilities having different assortments of capabilities, battery technologies, manufacturing approaches, user training and experience differences. This is due to the fact that medical batteries must be designed, manufactured and labelled specifically for their use with specific medical devices (source) making the list of batteries designed for each machine essentially endless.
This is why battery testing is critical, as it tells you where each specific
battery in each fleet is in its life cycle, removes potential risk, and provides an
accurate time and date stamp for quality assurance.
The variability in the types of batteries found in hospital and other workplaces has led Cadex to design and build over 3,200 custom adapters (most available for purchase through Cadex.com) for its industry-leading C7 series battery analyzers- to ensure that all batteries meet specified equipment requirements, maximize up-time of critical equipment, and support reliable patient care.