The design of an automated external defibrillator - Essay Example

The scale of the burden is felt in the economy with escalating costs of health care as indicated by the billions spent annually by the UK government on cardiovascular diseases (British Heart Foundation 2012). The relatively high incidences of heart attacks in UK are of great concern to health care professionals and other stakeholders, which have seen them, consolidate their efforts in order to reduce the effects. Stakeholders such as medical engineers and manufacturers team up with healthcare professionals in an effort to brain storm on the possible solutions in line with technological advances.

This front has seen the successful adoption and incorporation of technology in healthcare facilities in form of medical devices. According to the European Union definition, a medical device is an apparatus or instrument that is designed for preventative, diagnostic, monitoring, or therapeutic purposes and its purpose is not achieved through pharmacological, immunological or metabolic means (Krutmann 2011). Similarly, the mode of action of medical devices is not through chemical action in a patient’s body, although may be assisted in its functions through such means.

As such, it is essential that medical devices exceed the threshold under the European Union regulations, which call for detailed records of the products, designing and construction is limited to qualified personnel, and comprehensive risk assessment should be done (Jacobson and Murray 2007). The key function of a medical device can be illustrated from scientific information quoted by the manufacturer in line with functional principle and the manufacturer’s labelling. Biomedical engineering is the major field charged with the task of designing, development and production of medical devices that are geared towards increasing efficiency in the delivery of healthcare services.

Medical devices vary in their capacity and level of sophistication ranging from tongue depressors to