Medical device - Definition and Overview

This article or section should be merged with Medical devices

Medical equipment is machinery designed to aid medical therapies. It is usually designed with rigorous safety standards.

There are several basic types:

Life support equipment is used maintain a patient's bodily function. These include medical ventilators, heart-lung machines, ECMO, and dialysis machines.

Therapeutic equipment include infusion pumps (by far the most common), medical lasers and LASIK surgical machines.

Medical monitors allow medical staff to measure a patient's medical state. These measure ECGs, EEGs, blood pressure, and dissolved gases in the blood.

Medical imaging machines are used to aid diagnosis. These include ultrasound, MRI, CAT-scans, PET, and x-ray machines.

Medical laboratory equipment automate or help analyses of blood, urine and genes.

See also: medical test