It is undeniable that technology has made life far easier and its impact is felt in every area of society, especially in health care. With new illnesses and diseases being diagnosed across the world, the importance of innovation in health care is becoming more and more necessary. MSQ Health and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have partnered on a collaborative project that will help accelerate the integration of medical devices and facilitate improved maintenance and the increased lifecycle of these devices.

The latest medical technologies enable doctors to deliver earlier diagnosis and obtain better treatment outcomes. However, the increased complexity and cost of medical devices means that maintenance and servicing of medical equipment places a large burden on the health system. MSQ Health and the CSIR have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop and pilot technology that allows medical devices to be monitored and analysed through a cloud-based system. This will ensure that preventative maintenance, diagnosis of mechanical problems, monitoring of quality controls and calibrations of essential equipment can be done remotely. The goal of the project is to achieve a significant reduction in downtime of essential hospital equipment and extend the operational lifetime of medical devices.

Dr Nhlanhla Msomi, CEO of MSQ Health explained that the CSIR was the natural partner for the organization in commissioning this project. "We approached CSIR with the vision of providing a solution to our customers that would allow more cost-effective maintenance of their medical equipment as we knew CSIR are leaders in South Africa in this area of research. CSIR were keen to partner with us in the implementation of a cloud-based system as they quickly saw the benefits this could offer to the public health system."

"The CSIR is extremely excited to join forces with MSQ Health for the benefit of improved health care for all South Africans. With the world becoming more digitised, we find the health care landscape rapidly changing to the benefit of the patient. Remote maintenance and condition monitoring of equipment is paramount to providing improved health care services. Health care professional will find it easier to manage their equipment using digital cloud based systems" CSIR Executive Director: Materials, Science and Manufacturing, Martin Sanne MSQ Health will be hosting a breakfast session on Thursday, 3 November in partnership with the CSIR to give the audience a vivid feel of the new project.