Spectrum Autumn 2023

Welcome to the Autumn 2023 edition of Spectrum Journal, where we focus on the next generation of clinical engineering – our students. In this issue you will find a selection of articles from clinical engineering students detailing their experiences in internships and offering an insight into their studies and plans for the future.

Within this focus, Emediong Inyang a clinical technology student, reports on her work experience at University Hospital Limerick Group; Ulasi Onyebuchi Wisdom and Eli Pigot both discuss what they  earned during internships with St Vincent’s University Hospital and St Vincent’s Private; Anna Roy reports on her Master’s project in delamination and wrinkling in adhesive skin patches; and Stephen Tutty shares his insights from his final year project, which examined the effects of using a rubber particle as a filler in stereolithography.

Elsewhere, Fiona Commins – Clinical Engineer at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin – writes about the growing importance for energy efficiency in medical devices; Gurshwin Fredericks and Adriana Delvecchio at Irish Hospital Supplies offer an overview of Rigid Endoscope Audits; Kuriokose Thomas at Beaumont Hospital reviews  hospital thermometers; and Sneha Joy at University Hospital Kerry  presents her thesis for her MSc. In Innovative Technology Engineering, ‘The Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Simulated  Arterial Plaque (Calcium) for use in Benchtop Testing’.

This issue also features a report on the establishment of Innovate Health at Tallaght University Hospital.

Finally, Derek Farrell, Áine Muldoon and Frank Kelly offer a tribute to our esteemed late colleague Declan Murray, MSc and former Chief Clinical Engineer at St Vincent’s University Hospital. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Eoghan Hayden