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

M301.4 Lift Compatibility

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

An overhead lift (and possibly a gurney-based transfer) may be used in lieu of the provisions for clearances in or around the base of equipment to accommodate the legs of portable floor lifts.
Note: in some circumstances such as in-room MR, the option for a room layout for gurney transfer would be appropriate.

Rationale: The subcommittee recommended the alternate means of using an overhead lift instead of providing clearances for portable lifts because: 1) a ceiling mounted lift can have advantages for better patient transfer and positioning over a portable lift because the portable lift would need to access the diagnostic imaging table from its side or its far foot-end; and 2) table structural design and/or room layout may be such that providing the clearances in and around the base per M301.4.1 and M301.4.2 may be either technically difficult or impractical. Overhead lifts are already currently installed as accessories for some imaging systems.

Overhead lifts are not possible to be used in the MR exam room due to the magnetic fields. Because of this, or for other cases where an overhead lift would be impossible, a gurney-based transfer was considered acceptable provided the gurney met the new standards, even though a double transfer is not ideal.

Below is a picture of an existing CT room with a ceiling mounted overhead lift. Note the degree of flexibility and advantages that this design provides over a portable lift scenario, such as: either side transfer, desired patient orientation prior to transfer, always being available to the patient, no need to manually move the patient by hand, and the ability to move the lift completely out of the way when not needed.

Figure 5.3-13: An existing CT room with a ceiling mounted overhead lift.