BI2ME2: Medical Equipment

Module code: BI2ME2

Module provider: School of Biological Sciences

Credits: 20

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Lindsey Thompson, email: lindsey.thompson@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 25 September 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module introduces students to the principles and practices surrounding the safe, effective, and legally compliant use of medical equipment in healthcare. Students will explore each stage of the medical equipment life cycle — from acquisition and clinical use through to decommissioning and disposal — with a strong emphasis on understanding relevant legislation, regulatory standards, and national and local governance procedures. 

Through practical case studies and guided teaching, students will develop the ability to identify hazards in clinical and workplace environments using formal risk assessment methods, and to advise on best practices that reduce risks and ensure patient and staff safety. The module also covers the application of quality assurance (QA) systems across various equipment modalities, helping students understand how QA underpins the reliable and accurate functioning of healthcare technology. 

Students will learn how to respond to safety alerts, manage incidents, and understand their responsibilities within national reporting structures and local governance frameworks. The module also introduces the principles of information governance, with a particular focus on radiotherapy, highlighting how secure and responsible data handling intersects with safe equipment use. 

By completing this module, students will gain foundational knowledge in safety, compliance, and quality management in medical equipment use, preparing them for roles that involve clinical technology, radiotherapy, or healthcare risk management.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Describe and Manage the Medical Equipment Life Cycle: Understand and explain each stage of the medical equipment life cycle — from procurement and clinical use to decommissioning and disposal — in line with relevant legislation, national guidance, standards, and best practice. 
2. Apply Risk Assessment and Hazard Identification in Clinical Environments: Identify hazards in clinical or workplace settings through structured risk assessments, and advise on best practices to reduce harm, promote safety, and comply with professional and legal frameworks. 
3. Implement and Evaluate Quality Assurance in Medical Equipment Use: Describe and carry out quality assurance (QA) procedures across different equipment modalities, and understand their role in ensuring the safe and effective delivery of healthcare. 
4. Understand Incident Reporting and Governance Processes: Demonstrate awareness of procedures for reporting and investigating safety incidents, including the role of the competent national authority, local governance structures, and responsibilities within healthcare teams. 
5. Explain the Role of Information Governance and Regulatory Compliance: Understand the importance of information governance in healthcare settings (particularly radiotherapy), and describe how relevant legislation, standards, and regulatory processes support the safe use and management of medical devices.

Module content

Lecture material will include the following topics:

• Introduction to the Medical Equipment Life Cycle 
• Legislation and Regulatory Frameworks 
• Risk Assessment and Hazard Identification 
• Best Practice in Safe Use of Medical Equipment 
• Quality Assurance Principles and Practice 
• QA Across Modalities 
• Incident Management and Safety Alerts 
• Decommissioning and Disposal of Medical Devices 
• Information Governance and Equipment Data 
• Integration, Review, and Case-Based Scenarios 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The learning outcomes will be met through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, peer-learning, active learning, problem-based learning, flip learning, self-directed learning and directed independent study. Students will be given the opportunity to make and justify decisions in authentic assessment scenarios and group activities. Some clinical visits will be offered and students will spend time in the clinical suite to replicate a hospital ward environment. Appropriate supplementary information and reading lists will be provided on Blackboard.

Study hours

At least 34 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve all of the following to pass this module:

1. Students taking the BEng Biomedical Engineering programme must also achieve a mark of at least 30% in each summative assessment.
2. An overall module mark of 40%

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs