Dermatologists often prescribe cortisone in neurodermititis therapy. The hormone brings relief to patients, however, it is also known to have side-effects such as a rise in blood pressure or water build-up in tissue. Cold light beds therefore represent appropriate and efficient alternatives, especially as these are not limited in their applications to the treatment of neurodermititis only. In order to protect their latest UVA-1 bed of the type medisun XENIA UVA-1 against damage, the company Schulze & Boehm GmbH relies on a small shock absorber from ACE.
"Check that to which you bind yourself eternally whether you can find something better" as the old saying goes, as often quoted by worried parents as well as companies concerned with quality. In the end, committment to a partner which undertaken far too lightly can have resulting costs, which can impair the advantage of having a loyal customer. Schulze & Boehm GmbH from Brühl near Cologne, which, with their medisun products, has been a global fixture for dermatologists for almost 25 years, regard as critical the selection and stipulation of supply and cooperation partners: "We owe that to our target groups. From the large university clinic to the local dermatologist, the hospital managers, purchase communities and also the treating doctors who have to use high-quality, long-lived products, not only because of the dictates of the empty coffers of the health system. Much more they have to ensure the highest good concerning the health of their patients" according to Managing Director Dipl.-Ing Andreas Schulze. He is gladly continuing a second round of cooperation with ACE Stoßdaempfer GmbH from Langenfeld, and declares: "It has paid off that we have proceeded very carefully in the selection of accessories for our DynaLux 700 solution. With the industrial gas springs employed there for photo-dynamic therapy, we did not have any unpleasant surprises - on the contrary, the service of ACE has confirmed to us over the years how good our choice was."
Thus the design engineers have turned to ACE again with their new UVA-1 therapy bed, the medisun XENIA UVA-1, which meanwhile has already been successfully employed in some universities. The newly designed bed in the patented futuristic design works in the so-called UVA1/blue spectrum of 340 - 450 nm, and is employed for the treatment of neurodermititis, zirkumskripter sclerodermititis. Furthermore, not only is it extremely energy-saving thanks to a highly efficient lamp technology, but it also indicates numerous other advantages. Unlike conventional UV beds with high-pressure vapor discharge lights, the medisun solution, for example, does not require any warm-up time in order to achieve full lamp energy. Its computer control makes possible dosing which is precise to a second, and also partial irradiation is possible without problems.
A high variability of the lamp modules guarantees ease of adjustment for every required UV intensity. The low construction height and space-saving rotation mechanism of the lamp cover enable its installation in almost all rooms. Since the patient can see through the lamp modules, the arousal of clautrophopic feelings is as good as excluded. However, aside from fearful patients and panic attacks, an emergency opening of the rotation module is also conceivable. In order to be ready for such a case, the manufacturer of the innovative phototherapy systems provides for a protection of the end positions. In this way, optimal treatment is guaranteed in case of the redesigned medisun bed.
Small, individually adjustable shock absorber
Usually ACE employs a company-internal computer program for the layout and selection of the optimal damping elements. In contrast to e.g. applications from the production engineering or automation sector, however there was not sufficient design data available for this process in this case. The service orientation of ACE is characterized in that the damping experts, considering the 300 kg weight of the cold light bed, recommended two small shock absorbers of the type MA225M for a test series, and supplied them for trial. The maintenance-free, hydraulic braking elements, ready to be installed, were also characterized by their individual adaptability in tests in Bruehl. Unlike self-adjusting types, which are employed if there is sufficient design data available, the necessary damping could be set-adjusted in the application on site, and/or adapted in the test series up to the maturity phase. As forecast by ACE design engineers, it was indicated locally that both the maximum effective mass of 226 kg and the maximum energy absorption of 25 Nm per stroke are completely sufficient for the existing case. If you can imagine the medisun XENIA UVA-1, the layout and maximum kinetic energy to be reduced is a surprise at first sight. However, it is to be considered that not the entire cold light bed, but only its radiating cover, must be pivoted and slowed down in the emergency case. The setting-adjustment and integration of the small shock absorbers is so easy that the customers of ACE are able to carry it out themselves. Only very small braking and support forces arise from the long strokes of 19 mm. Nevertheless, they are to be provided for the therapy device of 280 cm length as a compact element. This is because, in the extended status, the damper from the series MA225M measures just 11.8 cm and weighs only 130 grams. For managing director and design engineers there is an additional argument for purchase: "Anything other than a small, scarcely-noticeable safety member would counteract our concept of a high-quality medical technology product for dermatologists" as emphasized by Andreas Schulze.
In Bruehl as well as in Langenfeld, the lifetime duration of their own products has the highest priority. And since the small shock absorbers in the automation and production engineering sector are generally exposed to far more frequent load changes, their service life duration of several million strokes mean that a UV therapy bed, such as the medisun XENIA UVA-1, can confidently trust in a small shock absorber to its service life end.
