Altran Italia | Technology Review # 08 Guidelines for Medical Alarm System Software Design

The kidneys are responsible for filtering waste products from the blood. The dialysis is a procedure to replace the renal (kidney) function through Haemodialysis machine in people who suffer from end stage renal disease. Haemodialysis machine provide the fluids of dialysis for the cleaning of the patient’s blood and removal of excess fluid. One aspect to take care in the development of a dialysis machine is the alarm system. Alarm systems are important for safe and efficient operation of many technical systems. However, it is vital that the design of the alarms and the alarm system matches the conditions and needs of the human operator. During treatment multiple alarm can occur but we must ensure that the alarm must be accurate, intuitive, and provide alerts which are readily interpreted. Audible alarms serve multiple functions in medical equipment, not the least of which is that they protect manufacturers against liability. This article is offered as to facilitate the improvement of alarm design; on the other hand give some tips to develop alarm uniformity. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to approach the management of alarm troubleshooting in a systematic manner. The title of the article refers to the IEC 60601-1-8, a comprehensive international standard that specifies basic safety and essential performance requirements and tests for alarm systems in medical equipment. Medical equipment manufacturers usually develop proprietary alarms for their products. Efforts to harmonize alarm systems in medical equipment had been moving slowly over the last decade. As device makers continue to integrate more functions into each piece of medical equipment, they must also incorporate more types of warning sounds. Guidelines for medical alarm system software design