Yards Moving Forward - GL Group

UNDERWATER TECHNOLOGY
New Chances for Recovery
Ultramodern Hyperbaric Chamber Inaugurated in Stockholm. The clinical pictures are
diverse: wounds that will not heal, carbon monoxide poisoning, caisson disease (“the bends”),
bacterial infections etc. Oxygen therapy promises relief and recovery. But where? In the
world’s most modern hyperbaric treatment chamber! The “New Intensive Care Hyperbaric
Chamber System” of the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm was recently
certified by Germanischer Lloyd
“Hyperbaric oxygenation” (HBO) is the technical term for
the special therapy with which patients have been treated
since April 2006 in the new pressure chamber facility of
Karolinska Hospital. Here they breathe in oxygen under an
increased ambient pressure, which exerts a positive effect on
the healing process. The pressure difference in the chamber
enables the body to absorb much more oxygen than under
normal atmospheric pressure.
The “New Intensive Care Hyperbaric Chamber System” in
the Stockholm University Hospital consists of four pressurized
chambers with a total volume of more than 120 m 2 . Each pair
can be used independently of the other, which means that
several intensive-care patients can be accommodated at the
same time. With an internal width of 3.5 m and a length of
about 15 m, the chamber offers a maximum pressure of 3 bar.
Owing to its size and its weight of 105 tonnes, it was only possible
to install the hyperbaric chamber in a new building of the
hospital. Modern technology makes it possible for the breathing
system to be used under atmospheric pressure as well.
Elaborate Certification
Karsten Hagenah at Germanischer Lloyd examined the
design drawings, supervised construction on site with sup-
CERTIFICATION IN THE MEDICAL ENGINEERING INDUSTRY
AND IN HEALTH CARE
MEDCERT offers the testing and certification of quality management
systems and medical products as per DIN EN ISO 13485, as well as the
European directives on medical devices and active implants. The company’s
range of services also includes the examination of electrical
safety in its own laboratory. Medical products that pass a conformity
assessment procedure by MEDCERT may be recognized by the MED-
CERT identification number “0482” after the CE mark. Established in
1993, the firm today has a clientele which chiefly includes manufacturers
and distributors of medical devices, and also medical technology
practitioners, e.g. dental laboratories, orthopaedic workshops,
opticians and audiologists as well as dialysis centres and service
providers in clinics. A staff of 15 is employed at the company’s
Hamburg office. Germanischer Lloyd Certification holds a 50% interest
in MEDCERT.
For further information: Dipl.-Ing. Klaus-Dieter Ziel, Managing Director,
Phone +49 40 36951-7982, info@medcert.de, www.medcert.de
42 nonstop 3/2006
port from Eberhard Währer and Markus Bianchi from the GL
subsidiary MEDCERT and also subjected the medical installation
to numerous functional tests. The hyperbaric chamber
facility, built by Haux-Life-Support in Germany, was tested
for compliance with the specifications of Karolinska
University Hospital and with respect to the European standard
EN 14931 “Safety Requirements and Testing Methods for
Hyperbaric Chambers” as well as the Guidelines for Diving
Systems and Diving Simulators of Germanischer Lloyd.
During the practical acceptance test of the pressure chamber,
all safety-related aspects were inspected for their
functionality and operational reliability. In particular, the
specially designed fire-extinguishing system and the medical
equipment installed in the pressurized treatment room were
examined with regard to their safety properties under a wide
range of pressures.
Aesthetics Helps to Heal
Not only does the Stockholm chamber facility offer diverse
possibilities for treatment, it could also win a design prize.
Unlike “normal” hyperbaric chambers, the shape of the new
unit is not composed only of circles – nor does it look like a
typical pressure vessel. Once inside, the patients feel as if they
were in a normal hospital room. Thanks to the large windows,
Installing the pressure chamber in its own specially designed building