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[1]Web Site Review

Toronto, Ontario

A Critical Review of the Siemens KION Anesthesia Workstation http://www.oyston.com/kion/

This very interesting Web site by Dr. John Oyston is a "consumer's report" style review of the Siemens KION Anesthesia Workstation. Product reviews of this kind are woefully lacking in the print anesthesia literature yet are crucial to clinicians looking for the best purchase for their department. Consequently, this site provides a particularly valuable service that regular anesthesia journals have consistently ignored.

Dr. Oyston indicates that the mission of the site "is to critically review the usability of the KION anesthesia workstation, and to educate users about some potential difficulties and how to work around them" and notes that "potential purchasers of the machine should consider whether the issues raised are of importance to them, and discuss the current status of upgrades with their Siemens representative." Thus, the site has an implicit goal of encouraging (or forcing) the manufacturer to deal with some of the difficulties raised in the review.

The bulk of the design problems that Oyston cites are human factors issues. Numerous design problems are nicely illustrated with colour photographs and some "Quick Visual Quiz" sidebars that very effectively make their point.

The original release of this Web site was met with hostility in some circles (especially when it was suspected that rival manufacturers were using the page as "negative advertising") and so the page was temporarily suspended to ensure that all objections were dealt with. In fact, Siemens provided 17 pages of written material in response to the original Web site, which Oyston used as further source material for the current revision.

This effort represents an important new means to communicate information to anesthesiolgists dealing with anesthesia equipment. There is a critical need for other machines to be similarly reviewed. Still, not everyone will be happy with Oyston's comments. Perhaps this is why Dr. Oyston has placed the following (unenforceable) restriction on his page: "Manufacturers of rival products are specifically prohibited from using this information as "negative advertising".

Anyone interested in anesthesia machine design and human factor issues in medical equipment will find this Web site to be quite useful. I have recommended it privately to several regulatory officials as a starting template for reviewing other anesthesia machines.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a scholarly reply Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Doyle, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Doyle, D. J.