Lu QP, Wu Y, Mao XD, Wan HJ, Shao J, Yu QK, Zhang W, Zhao Y, Wang CY. Continuous quality improvement project to reduce the downtime of medical linear accelerators: A case study at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital.
Heliyon 2024;
10:e30668. [PMID:
38774097 PMCID:
PMC11107096 DOI:
10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30668]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective
To analyse and continually improve existing issues in the quality improvement process of medical linear accelerators (LINACs) and enhance the quality control management of LINACs.
Methods
Data were collected from eight LINACs (sourced from three manufacturers) at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital using Excel diaries between January 2019 and December 2020. The data description and analysis were performed using the analytic hierarchy process, SPSSAU and Excel software, and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR)/mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) metrics. Continuous quality improvement was executed using the quality control circle (QCC) quality management method.
Results
After quality improvement, the risk frequency of 'LINAC down' events decreased by 43.63% and downtime was reduced by 40.45%. The weight of downtime risk improved by 73.69%. The MTTR recovery value increased by 31.90%, and MTBF reliability increased by 2.97 h. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed quality improvement measures could effectively decrease the frequency and duration of downtimes, consequently extending the normal operational time of LINACs.
Conclusion
Transitioning from instant repair to preventative maintenance can enhance the operational efficiency of equipment and yield economic benefits for hospitals. The QCC method and the event risk evaluation model are effective in reducing the downtime of LINACs and improving their quality control management.
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