Medical devices have varied a lot over the last few decades, becoming increasingly complex and precise as the advancements in the medical field. In basic terminology, medical devices include instruments and articles which are used in the field of medicine to perform procedures for diagnosis or treatment of diseases. They are highly regulated by special authorities – FDA in the United States; European Union Medical Device Regulation Council in the EU and the Central Drug Standards Control Organization in India. They are classified by these authorities as low risk, medium risk, high risk and so on depending upon their usage and risk factors.

Buying medical devices for the clinics and hospitals

Hospitals and clinics do not require any prescription for medical device equipment. Depending upon the size of the clinic and the facilities, medical devices may be purchased to meet their requirement. However, things like contact lenses also come under the umbrella of medical devices for personal use which may require a prescription in a few countries. Today, a lot of these devices may even be purchased online although the original means of sourcing for long has remained distributors and medical sales representatives from major manufacturers.

Buying large medical equipment for hospitals

Hospitals may also require a number of large equipment to provide all types of facilities to the patients. These include CT scan machines, MRI machines, X-Ray machines, and ultrasound and so on. These are bought primarily directly from the manufacturer since they are expensive and certain hospitals may even require variations in the same. There are several safety and precision standards that manufacturers need to maintain in order to have high-quality products. These standards are defined by the authorities mentioned above.

Both small and large devices and equipment need to be sterilized periodically for which there are specific tools available in the market.