Planning C-arm maintenance: acceptance, QC and service contracts

Acceptance testing: the baseline

C-arm acceptance testing is carried out after installation and before clinical use. It checks that the unit performs to its specification and creates baseline values to compare with later tests. Typical items include electrical safety and mechanical checks in line with IEC 60601-1, tube output and kV accuracy, fluoroscopy dose rate, image quality, collimator alignment, laser alignment where fitted and display performance.

Insist on a written report signed by the installer and, where required, by a qualified expert. Keep it with the equipment file: the regulator and your radiation protection officer may ask to see it. See our overview of radiation regulations in the UAE.

Daily and weekly user checks

Users should check cables and the power plug, brakes and arc movement, the foot switch and emergency stop, the laser localisers, the display and that the system warms up without error messages. Wipe down surfaces with approved agents and check that drapes and covers are available. Record problems so that they reach engineering quickly.

Daily checks also include confirming the correct date, patient entry workflow and storage space, and that the battery or standby power on units that have it, such as the PLX C2119 with its 10 minute standby, is charged.

C-arm preventive maintenance schedule

Follow the manufacturer's intervals in the service manual; a typical programme is a visit at least once or twice a year, with more frequent checks for heavily used units. Preventive maintenance covers cleaning of filters and fans, inspection of cables and connectors, lubrication and brake checks, battery tests, software and backup checks, and calibration of the dose and detector where applicable.

Cooling deserves attention: units with active or circulating cooling, such as the Villa Arcovis DRF-C or Perlove PLX C9100, rely on fans, pumps and filters to sustain long fluoroscopy. Blocked intakes shorten tube life and cause overheating; our troubleshooting guide explains the symptoms.

• Mechanical: brakes, bearings, counterbalance, cables
• Electrical: safety tests, grounding, power supply, batteries
• Imaging: detector calibration, dead-pixel maps, display
• Cooling: filters, fans, pumps, coolant
• Software: updates, backups, DICOM tests

Quality control: dose, image and tube checks

Periodic quality control is separate from repair. It measures what the unit delivers: entrance dose rate in each fluoroscopy mode, kV and mA accuracy, half-value layer, spatial resolution and low-contrast visibility using a test phantom, automatic brightness control behaviour and collimator accuracy. Compare each result with the baseline and the manufacturer's tolerance.

Track tube exposure counters and the age of the tube, and plan replacement before a failure interrupts the list. For flat panels, check calibration, dead pixels and lag. Keep graphs of results over time, which often reveal gradual change before a failure.

C-arm service contract: what to negotiate

A good service contract states the visit frequency, response and repair times, whether parts, tubes and detectors are included, loaner availability, remote diagnostics, software updates, and application training. Clarify exclusions such as damage from misuse, and how uptime is measured. Ask who services the equipment in the UAE and where spare parts are stocked.

Beckfinity offers maintenance support and can propose a plan for the Perlove and Villa C-arms you operate. Contact us to discuss a service contract and acceptance test support.

The contract should also define reporting: after each visit you receive a written report listing work done, parts replaced and observations, kept in the equipment file and useful during inspections.