Greetings
Clinical Engineering Department engineers are responsible for the operation, maintenance, inspection, and management of life support equipment.
1) A department that performs its work at a high level that it can be proud of and confident about
2) A department that makes a significant contribution to patients and the hospital
3) A department where the skills of individual staff members can be utilized
With this goal in mind, we participate in team medical care as specialists in the operation and maintenance of almost all medical equipment in the hospital, working in cooperation with doctors, nurses, and other medical technicians to ensure that patients can receive treatment with peace of mind 24 hours a day. We also focus on training technicians who are skilled enough to empathize with the patients who use medical equipment. If you have any questions about medical equipment, please feel free to ask our clinical engineers at any time.
Head of Clinical Engineering Department
Hideki Nishihara
Overview
Clinical Engineering Department consists of 50 clinical engineers (36 men and 14 women). Hospitals have various medical devices, and these must always be in optimal condition and used correctly. To achieve this, staff with expertise in medical equipment must perform maintenance, inspection, and operation. Clinical engineers are specialized medical technicians who acquire accurate knowledge and skills regarding medical equipment and support the smooth progress of team-based medical care with their knowledge of medicine and engineering. Our department operates on a two-shift system (night shift) to ensure 24-hour availability and provide safe medical care to patients. We also proactively address the needs of our staff regarding childcare and elder care.
Business Contents
Equipment management work
Medical Instruments Maintenance Office manages and operates over 8,000 pieces of medical equipment, including life support systems. We also regularly plan and hold training sessions for doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff to ensure the safe use of medical equipment. As medical equipment specialists, we work as part of the medical team in various fields, including perioperative and intensive care.
Operating room operations
The Central Operating Room is continually being fitted with the latest medical equipment, and staff are always present in the room to manage it. Furthermore, we are also involved in cases involving advanced medical technologies such as robot-assisted surgery, plastic surgery navigation and intraoperative neuromonitoring, and are involved in operating these under the direction of doctors. Furthermore, by managing a large number of medical devices and conducting planned maintenance and inspections, we contribute to safe surgery.
Artificial heart-lung service
Currently, seven certified extracorporeal circulation technicians in our department work in close collaboration with Cardiovascular Surgery department. Furthermore, we have a system in place that allows us to respond 24 hours a day, and we also handle emergency surgeries.
We are also actively involved in supporting medical treatment in the structural area, such as TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) and MitraClip (Percutaneous Mitral Valve Clipping).We are also supporting medical treatment from a medical engineering perspective in the management of ECMO (Extracellular Oxygen Membrane Oxygenation), the number of cases of which has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blood purification work
In our blood purification services, we perform a variety of blood purification methods, including hemodialysis, plasma exchange, plasma adsorption, hemoperfusion, continuous slow-release hemopurification, and ascites filtration and concentration. We also provide equipment maintenance and patient training for home dialysis treatments. We also strive to provide safe, high-quality dialysis care by systematically conducting maintenance and inspections of related medical equipment, such as dialysis machines, and by implementing reliable dialysis fluid purification management.
Angiography room operations
In the angiography room, we are responsible for the operation and management of a wide range of treatment equipment, including intravascular imaging devices and various debulking devices, used in cardiac catheterization and lower limb ischemia treatment. We also operate circulatory support devices such as ECMO and Impella in emergencies. In arrhythmia treatment, we manage implantable cardiac devices and operate equipment such as 3D mapping systems and polygraphs used in catheter ablation. As a member of the team, we strive to provide safe and smooth medical care day and night with accurate knowledge and skills.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Our hospital is equipped with a Type 2 hyperbaric oxygen therapy device (for multiple patients), which is one of only a few facilities in the prefecture, and is able to handle a variety of hyperbaric oxygen therapy cases. Furthermore, we are always available for emergency cases, and when necessary, we accept patients from within the prefecture, as well as from other prefectures, including Shizuoka, using medical helicopters and other means.
Endoscopy
In recent years, the field of endoscopic examination and treatment has made remarkable progress in terms of minimally invasive techniques, from the perspectives of early detection and early treatment of diseases, appropriate medical care, and perioperative management to prevent complications. As the number of advanced procedures increases, there is a need for endoscopic technical support from clinical engineers who are familiar with medical equipment and can respond to emergencies at night, and since 2023, clinical engineers have been actively involved in endoscopic work at our hospital. Currently, at least two full-time clinical engineers are assigned to each of our eight Endoscopy Room to provide daily support.
Certifications obtained
| Clinical practice instructor | 3 people |
| Dialysis technology certified person | 11 people |
| Joint respiratory therapy certified by three academic societies | 11 people |
| Certified Clinical ME Specialist | 5 people |
| Medical Information Communicator (MDIC) | 2 people |
| Hyperbaric oxygen therapy technician | 2 people |
| Extracorporeal circulation technology certified person | 7 people |
| ITE Interventional Cardiology Technologist | 3 people |
| Implantable cardiac device certification | 9 people |
| Arrhythmia Treatment Specialist Clinical Engineer | 2 people |
| Certified Intensive Care Clinical Engineer | 3 people |
| Certified Blood Purification Clinical Engineer | 1 person |
| Certified Medical Device Management Clinical Engineer | 1 person |
| Acute Care Specialist | 1 person |