Lojer Developing its Products from a Safety and Usability Perspective

During the past year, medical care product manufacturer Lojer has carried out a number of large product development projects. These projects have shared a common aim: to take product safety and ease of use to the highest possible level. The company, based in Sastamala, Finland, is a firm believer in Finnish know-how.

Hydraulics Once Again Desirable

Before electrically operated treatment tables came onto the market there were hydraulic tables, where a foot operated pump was used to adjust the table to a suitable height. Now there is demand for hydraulic tables again, and Lojer has expanded its range with products to meet this demand. ”The golden age of hydraulic operating tables was the 1960s and '70s. Then electric motors came. Now, however, we have been receiving feedback from our main market areas that there is once again demand for hydraulic models,” says Lojer Oy's Export Director Pekka Koski.

Lojer has answered this demand by renewing its Capre and Delta ranges to incorporate hydraulic versions of the products. The benefits of a hydraulic table include easier moving of the table and the safety of hydraulic systems; for example, a hydraulic system is not affected by power cuts. ”Certain user groups appreciate manoeuvrability. Educational establishments, for example, might need to move tables around, in which case power cords are deemed cumbersome. Otherwise the tables have retained all the features of our electric models, including our 210 kg maximum patient weight,” adds Koski.

Lojer's Risk Management Engineer Aliina Tuomenlehti emphasises that hydraulic models are easy to service, and she is confident of the products' user-friendliness. ”Our hydraulic models have been found to be easy to use, and are similarly priced to electric versions. We have already received orders for hydraulic models from Germany and Japan,” Tuomenlehti explains.

Easier to Use with Infinitely Adjustable Arm Rests

Lojer Oy's other significant product development has been with the arm rests on the Capre range of treatment tables. Lojer firmly believes that the new infinitely adjustable arm rest mechanism is a major improvement for users working with the tables. “We went around the Medica trade fair in Germany last year and noticed that there weren't any tables on the market with fully variable quick adjustment arm rests. The arm rests on most of our competitors' products are adjusted using an adjustment screw, and both arm rests need to be adjusted separately. We feel that this could be made easier. Now we have reached our desired goal, and Lojer's Capre range now features fully adjustable arm rests with gas struts,” explains Pekka Koski.

Aliina Tuomenlehti recalls the product development and risk management associated with the arm rest adjustment mechanism. She feels that the development is truly an innovation. ”The Capre treatment table can be lowered very low if necessary, in which case the arm rests are also very low down. We noticed that in this situation the person working with the table could be in danger of catching their foot between the floor and the arm rest. We innovated by developing a safety mechanism for the arm rest which stops the therapist's foot being crushed when the table is lowered to its lowest position. This innovation gave us 5 cm more adjustment range, yet the surrounding working area remains safe,” Tuomenlehti explains.

Another new addition to Capre tables is a safety cut-off switch, which shuts off power to the table. According to Pekka Koski, Lojer wants to provide a safe working environment also for those who have a table in a home environment. Tuomenlehti points out that in Germany, for example, safety regulations require that a cut-off is fitted. The electrical safety of treatment tables is helped by the fact that their electric motors run on a low voltage 24 volt system.