Staff

Activities

The Department of Clinical Engineering was established in January 1998 as a medical equipment management department, the first among the national university hospitals. It is mainly responsible for maintaining and managing medical equipment in the hospital, particularly that with high frequency of use and related to life support. Information on medical equipment that the center manages is all controlled in a database, so that the entire history of lending and use, inspections during use, maintenance and repairs can be confirmed from purchase until disposal. They also perform ward rounds of medical equipment in use and are on-call, as well as conducting educational activities for doctors and nurses so that the equipment is used correctly and safely for the patients. The Department of Clinical Engineering has 42 qualified clinical engineers* who provide support based on maintenance and management for the Surgical Center, Intensive Care Unit, Clinic of Radiology, Blood Purification Center, Medical Center for Translational and Clinical Research, Trauma and Acute Critical Care Center, and general wards. The clinical engineers of the center are at the forefront of medical care together with doctors and nurses, including heart surgery using a heart-lung machine in the Surgical Center, blood purification and artificial ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit and Blood Purification Center, interventional treatment by cardiac catheterization in the Clinic of Radiology, and heart failure treatment by ventricular assist device as a bridge to heart transplant.

* The medical occupation of clinical engineer (CE) is a medical technologists other than a doctor who, like nurses, radiology technologists, clinical laboratory technicians and physical therapists, provides medical aid. Clinical engineer is a relatively new occupation of about 30 years, having been instituted in 1987, which is nationally certified by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Having been licensed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, a clinical engineer engages in the operation and maintenance of life-support equipment such as heart-lung machines, blood purification equipment and artificial ventilators Intensive care, and is a professional engineer who has medical and technical knowledge of the remarkable advances in medical technology in recent years.

Activity system

For more information, click here (Japanese version only).

https://www.hosp.med.osaka-u.ac.jp/home/igibu/about/feature-rinshokougaku.html

https://www.hosp.med.osaka-u.ac.jp/home/igibu/occupation/rinshokougaku-01.html