Client: One of the largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of medical, industrial and security X-ray machines in India.
Problem: The client needed methods for their customers to monitor and manage their X-ray machines, while also providing accurate measures for vacuum tube replacement in the machines. Another issue is the damage that a faulty X-ray machine can cause if it is not identified. The problem as such had three parts:
- Asset tracking: Hospitals and diagnostic centers with large deployment of Xray machines often have issues in accurately tracking usage, availability and location of these machines.
- Machine fault monitoring: Exposure to large and uncontrolled doses of X-rays can cause serious cell damage. Machine faults, if not rectified, can expose patients and/or operators to large and uncontrolled X-rays.
- Predictive maintenance for vacuum tubes: Vacuum tubes used in X-ray machines have a limited life and need to be replaced after a certain number of X-ray photos have been taken. High level of human interaction in data collection & maintenance inevitably leads to inaccurate and unreliable data.
VT’s Solution: A hardware unit with a GSM module was installed within the X-ray control panel, this component utilized the machine serial number to generate a geotag for the device. Pushing information regarding the x-ray machine to the cloud, we also implemented a system that sent text messages to the client and client’s customers to indicate the current functioning of the machine. The cloud services provide analytical processing of the data, where prediction models were used to power predictive maintenance for the vacuum tubes. The client and the client’s customers can also view the performance and functioning of the machine through the custom web application, displaying easy to understand dashboards and visualizations.
Key Points:
- Achieved client’s business objectives by introducing IoT services with cloud and analytical systems, allowing the client to monitor the health of their device, and predict maintenance.
- Installed IoT devices to monitor location and condition of X-ray machines, providing real-time data about the functioning of the machine.
- Deployed Cloud to perform advanced analytics on the data from each machine, performing predictive analytics to forecast maintenance.
- Built easy to understand dashboards and visualizations for quick actions to be taken in cases of faulty functioning or replacement of vacuum tubes.
