A NEW manual control panel fitted in the Island's Hyperbaric Chamber has been used more than 6,000 times without breaking down or needing maintenance.
Local company Swagelok offered to fit the panel in January to replace an electronic one that was fitted in the late eighties. The panel now allows both chambers at the facility to be operated within the control room by one operator.
General manager Dave Hester said: "We are always looking to give back to the community that supports us so much. We offered to investigate new possibilities and ended up helping them configure and manufacture an entire new manual control panel for the facility."
The Hyperbaric Chamber was built in 1992 to treat decompression sickness and acute medical conditions that benefit from increased levels of oxygen in the blood. It is also used to accelerate the healing of sports injuries especially soft tissue wounds and un-united fractures.
The facility has two chambers – one able to treat up to six patients at a time and the other up to twelve patients at a time. Generally patients receive treatment for one hour a day for several days a week.
Swagelok engineers worked with David Downie, the operations manager of the chamber, to recommend replacement regulators for a manual control panel for the air supply that would make daily operations easier and more efficient.
Once the requirements were defined the engineers investigated numerous ideas and configurations using a 3D computer aided design package.
David said: "The design is absolutely brilliant. We have an average of sixty people using the chamber daily and with the new Swagelok system we know we can reliably pressurise and depressurise the system with a flick of a switch or turn of a knob."
The entire panel was manufactured and assembled at the Swagelok Isle of Man plant before final instillation in the control room.
