Trust Professional Texas Plumbers for Your Medical Gas Systems
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Widespread use of
gas systems in our hospitals has made otherwise difficult and critical medical tasks seem like routine. Many medical equipment’s are powered by compressed gas which can be easily and accurately manipulated and controlled with the use of current technology. Other gases have direct anatomical applications that have been proven effective over the years.
Diagnostic laboratories also use gases to simulate different atmospheres to hasten specimen or tissue growth. Instead of waiting for the specimen to develop in real time, gases are used to supply more or lessen the oxygen in the atmosphere, as the case maybe, to accelerate the process. This simulation method has cut the waiting time for diagnostic results significantly thus, making medical analysis and curative procedure and prescription more timely and effective.
The use of suction technology in maintaining hygiene and disposal of medical wastes, usually unwanted fluids, or gases, has greatly improved the level of sanitation in medical facilities.
Advances in computer control of surgical and other tools have made the use of gas systems a standard in medical machine and equipment design. Below are
medical gas systems our expert plumbing service company offers.
Oxygen. The most common and visible of all medical gas is oxygen. In small to medium medical facilities, it is not unusual for us to see oxygen supplied through mask from standard cylinders to patients who require supplemental oxygenation due to insufficient oxygen in the blood. For larger health care complexes, it consists of a large storage system of liquid oxygen which is then evaporated into a concentrated supply and transmitted to the patient’s room through a sophisticated array of tubes and hoses and computer control structures. This bulk tank is called vacuum insulated evaporator (VIE). 55 psi is the recommended pressure for this type of gas.
Compressed air. Nowhere is our use of compressed air more widely known than in pneumatics and jackhammers and railway braking systems are the loudest of the lot. But it is also used for breathing while scuba diving and to inflate buoyancy devices. Compressed air is used in hospitals in cleaning equipment and removing dust and small debris in hard to reach small spaces and other similar uses in patient care areas. Around 55 psi pressure is maintained for compressed air.
Nitrous oxide. Used as anesthetic during pre-operative procedure it is supplied to surgical suites from standard high-pressure cylinders. Old bulk systems exist but have been slowly phased out due to environmental concern and declining use of the nitrous oxide as a medical gas. 50 psi pressure is normal for this gas.
Nitrogen. Used in many sensitive medical equipment such as dental drill and barostat system which is utilized in neurogastroenterology. It is also used to measure a person’s response to simulated cabin pressure environment in pre-flight lung testing and as cryogen to freeze blood, body tissue and other specimen for various medical purposes. It has also wide-ranging industry uses such as in air brakes and other pneumatic devices. As this gas is used to power up devices a high pressure topping 175 psi is usually available in the pipeline.
Carbon dioxide. Used in laser surgery to suspend or inflate tissues. It is insufflated to the body to inflate a cavity to make more space for the surgeon to work on especially during laparoscopic surgery. The surgery is generally referred to as minimally invasive, which is a procedure where the operation is performed far from its location by making a small incision elsewhere in the body. Carbon dioxide is the preferred gas to use because it is non-flammable, colorless, and easily dissolves in the blood. It can be combined with oxygen or air to treat respiratory ailment. System pressures are maintained at 50 psi.
Helium. In its liquid form helium is used to make MRI machines reach superconducting state. In this state, high resolution body images can be produced by the machine without fear of contaminating with radiation and endangering the patient.
Carbon monoxide. As this gas is harmful when taken in big doses, it is used only in small amounts in lung diffusion testing where the medical staff can determine how well the patient’s lungs convert one gas to another.
Instrument air or surgical air. This is also used to power up medical devices and is beginning to become a popular alternative to nitrogen. It is also generated by an air compressor at a pressure of 175 psi. Pressure cylinders cannot do the job as consistently high pressure is required to drive medical devices. It used to be that compressors cannot deliver the air purity required to run these devices but more modern machines have been able to overcome this flaw and instrument air might soon replace nitrogen completely for this purpose.
Medical vacuum. This system supports vacuum equipment and evacuation procedures and is maintained in a negative pressure of around -75kPa. WAGD/AGSS. Waste anesthesia gas disposal and anesthetic gas scavenging system are used in anesthetic evacuation procedure and maintained at around -65 kPa since hospital scavenging do not need as much negative pressure as Medical vacuum.
In modern healthcare complexes these gases are piped into various sections of the hospital. A central source alarm system regulates the flow of the gases into the general ward, operating theater, ICU, recovery, and other rooms. A system of control valves is installed in the different areas of the hospital to ensure immediate shut off of gas supply in cases where it has been contaminated or when a fire breaks out.
Other clinical and medical procedures use gas mixtures. In lung function testing and blood gas analysis, gas mixtures are used for diagnostic applications. Medical devices that deliver anesthetic gases are calibrated using test gases. In diagnostic laboratories, culture growth is developed through aerobic or anaerobic incubator environment to encourage biological cell culture or tissue growth. Aerobic conditions are created using mixtures rich in oxygen while mixtures rich in hydrogen or carbon dioxide are used in creating anaerobic conditions.
If you need any of these medical gases, just call our hotline and we’ll provide you with what you need in no time!
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