Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
The argument about sensitive medical equipment not using fancy mains cables is a bit spurious. Do you really think a CAT scanner plugs into a 3-pin mains socket? And mobile equipment, ultrasound scanners perhaps, just need to be good enough for the job at hand. I doubt it has occurred to anybody to blind test mains cables on ultrasound scanners and see if diagnostic rates improve.
FWIW 'CAT' scanners come in various types. PET, NMRI, etc. Their 'sensitive' bits will be well shielded, signal conditioned, and power filtered. They'll also probably eat more power that I'd recommend running through one domestic 13 amp mains socket! They will be designed or installed with subsidiary systems to cope with crappy mains, etc. They aren't typical of the bulk of instrumentation used in hospitals.
If you check out mains filters you should find they they do have some which are specifically 'medical' grade. This is because there are a number of quite specific safety requirements as well as sensitivity/signal ones for medical systems. Particularly for ones in any electrical contact with the patient. Mains filters are likely to be used to deal with RF in hospitals, not a choice of mains cable. How much sensitivity (to RF as well as the desired signal) varies with the type of device and function. Passive sensors used in contact may tend to be the most sensitive, not 'CAT scanners'.