Recommendations on Standards for the Design of Medical Diagnostic Equipment for Adults with Disabilities, Advisory Committee Final Report

M301.2.3 Transfer Surface Transfer Sides

Subcommittee Recommendation: (Also agreed to by the full committee.)

The option to transfer will be required only on one long side of the patient scanning/imaging table and not at the “foot” or “head” end of such surfaces.

Note: most installations can accommodate transfer from either long side for equipment with bores (siting and site dependent). However X-ray systems are likely to, and DXA systems will have equipment obstructions on one long side. Therefore, where feasible within the medical equipment design, the ability to have transfer access from two sides (either two long sides or a long and short side) is desired.

Rationale: Diagnostic imaging equipment is accessed by all individuals from one of the long sides of the table. Dependent on room layout and other ancillary equipment, both long sides of equipment with a bore tables may be available for transfer. However, many X-Ray system tables and all DXA tables will have part of the imaging equipment support located on one of the long sides and only all transfers are made from the other.

The head and foot ends of the table are likely to have obstructions such as extraction handles, the gantry, or patient positioning devices. Imaging tables are usually not intended to be access from the head or foot end because the patient would need to “scoot” a long distance to get into the proper position for their exam.