From the October 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


As in other areas of health care, the relationship between coil OEMs and the third-party organizations that service the equipment can sometimes become strained.

“Understandably, they have standards and service considerations and prefer not to deal with third-party developers. However, the counter argument is that keeping a more open architecture will only boost their system utility and competitiveness,” says Jones. “They can have both by putting the responsibility of safety, effectiveness and service on the third party, then let the free market decide what to purchase.”


Despite taking issue with certain manufacturer practices, such as building technical barriers into coil design, Jones also acknowledges a good reason OEMs might be lukewarm about third-party coil companies.

“The number of ‘amateurs’ out there claiming they are coil repair companies is disconcerting,” he says. “Without the appropriate engineering knowledge, adherence to standards and the ability to adequately test and validate their repairs, they can lead to more catastrophic failure and potential patient harm.”

What technical factors determine repair versus replace?
Most of the experts HCB News spoke to seemed to agree that almost all coils can be repaired, but some repairs are too costly to be worth the trouble. In general, that determination is made if there are proprietary plastic parts or preamplifiers that have broken down.

“Sometimes a coil is so damaged it's not economical to repair it,” says Hershberger. “Although this is rare, we have seen coils completely shattered with many pieces of the shell missing. We will also, on rare occasion, see failed components that sometimes affect circuits within the coil that can damage proprietary PCBs or other unique components that are not replaceable.”

Jones, with ScanMed, says his company has a motto: All coils can be repaired. One factor that may get overlooked is the capability of the repair providers.

“Different companies have different resources available to them,” says Jones, who asserts very few companies can boast complete refurbishment capabilities that include plastic housing repair and painting, foam recoating, cable replacement and complete electrical component-level repair with the appropriate parts inventories.

In a world where all coils can be repaired, Jones says, “it becomes an economic decision only – choose the less expensive path of repair/refurbish or replacement – all things, such as warranties, being equal.”

October 2017 Magazine

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