Peterlee firm's technology set to be used worldwide

Jan 21 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

ELECTRICAL testing technology developed by a North East company is to be used by British soldiers around the world.

Peterlee-based Rigel Medical’s new 288 field service kit has been specified for the electrical safety testing of devices used at dozens of Ministry of Defence medical, veterinary and dental servicing centres.

Fifty units are being supplied as part of a deal which will see Rigel, which is part of sector-leading company Seaward Group, providing training and support to MoD trainers who will be instructing army, navy and air force technicians on how to use the testers properly in military theatres of operation, including Afghanistan.

The new 288 hand-held devices will be used in conjunction with existing testers but meets the much-needed requirement for a mobile option.

The company says that technicians using the testers will be able to significantly reduce the time involved in undertaking electrical safety checks on devices and equipment used at the military healthcare facilities, using the barcode facility that is available with the tester.

The medical and general supplies team, which oversees equipment provision for the MoD, specified the 288 kit after it was assessed by technicians at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire.

It said the 288 is light, portable and the integrated barcode reader and printer means equipment can be identified and records recalled quickly, meeting the needs of technicians operating across the MoD in a more demanding mobile environment.

The Rigel field service kit will reduce the time taken to test the electrical safety and operation of a wide range of medical devices and equipment used in hospitals, operating theatres and other facilities.

A Bluetooth barcode scanner enables devices and equipment to be quickly and easily identified, while test results can be stored within the Rigel 288 safety analyser and printed wirelessly to the rugged battery-operated Elite Test n Tag printer.

The company said traceability is improved as information can be downloaded into Med-eBase – the easy-to-use asset management software. This enables the user to store and manage test results, email html test certificates to clients and schedule new work orders, which can then be fully uploaded into a large onboard memory.