Medical equipment is well suited to sheet metal fabrication, but presents several important challenges to a sheet metal fabricator. In a hospital or clinic the need to maintain high standards of hygiene is paramount, which means sheet metal products must be both easy to clean and resistant to solvents. Rounded edges and ergonomic design are needed to protect patients and staff from injury, and customized designs can be required to fit with existing equipment and facilities.
What types of medical equipment are manufactured from sheet metal?
There are three types of medical equipment that are commonly manufactured from sheet metal, medical carts, medical equipment cases, and medical furniture. The general requirements for all types of sheet metal medical equipment carts, cases and furniture are very similar, including biocompatibility and easy cleaning to hospital grade hygiene standards
- Medical carts
- Medical equipment cases
- Medical furniture
Sheet metal medical carts & trolleys for portable medical equipment
Medical carts and trolleys are used for mobile medical machines and to transport nursing consumables, prescription medications, surgical supplies, instruments, and laptop computers. They need to not only be easy to keep clean and hygienic, but also often need to have options for secure containers for medications, confidential records or for sharps disposal.
Good medical cart designs need to be designed with very good ergonomic features, especially crash carts like the one shown above, which have to be very stable, easy for staff to move around with little effort and also not have sharp edges or corners that could cause injuries.
Why is stainless steel used to manufacture medical equipment?
- Resistant to chemicals and solvents used to maintain high standards of hygiene
- Rust resistant surfaces for easy maintenance even without surface coatings
- Good strength to weight ratio for mobile medical carts and trolleys
- High strength to weight ratio allows for portability
- Durable with a long lifespan that reduces costs over time
Hygienic, functional medical equipment cases
Medical equipment cases have similar hygiene and easy cleaning requirements to carts and furniture, but also need to be fully functional as electronic equipment cases, with thought taken to cooling, maintenance access and electrical safety. Mobile equipment cases often share many similar features with medical carts, requiring ergonomic design with rounded edges for safety, like the X-Ray control box in the picture above.
Durable, ergonomic stainless steel medical furniture
Medical furniture has similar demands for durability and ease of maintenance as outdoor furniture, needing to be resistant to antiseptic chemicals and easy to keep clean and sterile, so stainless steel is again a good basis for medical furniture and can be formed into comfortable, ergonomically friendly shapes that also meet Design for Manufacturability (DFM) requirements. Custom fabrication of medical furniture ensures it will harmonize with existing medical equipment installations, including specific or adjustable height and clearances for ease of use.
What sort of sheet metal fabrication is used for medical equipment?
It is vitally important to be able to keep medical furniture clean and hygienic for the next person to use it. This is where sheet metal fabrication, especially in stainless steels, is an excellent option for medical furniture designs. Stainless steel can be curved into comfortable, ergonomic shapes for medical furniture while being extremely easy to clean as it is highly resistant to most aggressive solvents and cleaning products of the types used to keep clinics and hospitals clinically sterile environments.
Another option to using stainless steels is to use steel or aluminum alloys and then apply a durable, chemical resistant powder coating, PVD surface treatment or other impervious finish. Paint and surface finishes can be used to add decoration, logos, information and brand identity to sheet metal medical equipment. If you need to add identification information to your medical equipment, trolley or furniture then with sheet metal fabrication you can also laser cut lettering, numbers, designs and logos into the sheet metal pattern before bending, forming and assembly.
What is Taiwa’s expertise in sheet metal fabrication of medical equipment?
Taiwa is expert in custom sheet metal fabrication of all types of high quality sheet metal products to high levels of precision, and this includes medical equipment. Our experience and technical capabilities in precision cutting, bending and joining of sheet metals, especially stainless steel suitable for medical applications, gives us an advantage in the custom design of medical furniture, equipment cases and medical trolleys. We are also skilled in finishing and coating for medical applications, as you can see in the example of a mobile medical workstation above.
We can manufacture all types of sheet metal medical products in 316 or 304 stainless steel. Contact us to discuss your sheet metal medical equipment needs, whether you are looking for an aesthetic workstation for cosmetics or a hospital crash cart, to your own design or with our assistance, our friendly design and engineering team can satisfy any type of sheet metal medical equipment requirement.
