Scientific metrology

Population growth, increased life expectancy, the intensification of international passenger and goods traffic, and advances in modern medicine are placing increasing pressure on healthcare systems.

Healthcare systems are therefore facing new challenges, such as the increasing complexity of the measurements required. Every measurement related to healthcare follows a predefined method. In some cases, these measurements are simple (measuring body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, or the amount of active ingredient contained in a tablet), while in other cases they can be much more complex (determining X-ray doses or radiation emitted by a medical imaging device).

It is essential that measuring and testing equipment comply with recognized standards or specifications in order to produce the same results regardless of where the measurements are carried out. Implementing guidelines and regulations concerning medical methods and equipment is only possible if the measurements used to verify their compliance are accurate, traceable to internationally recognized reference measurement standards, and performed using approved and properly calibrated instruments.

HEALTH: ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS

Healthcare professionals and risk assessment experts rely on the accuracy of health-related measurements to diagnose diseases and prescribe treatments or actions, so that patients receive effective, safe, and cost-efficient care. Applying the exact dose of the right substance, in the right place, at the right time: the success of the treatment depends on it.

HEALTH: A RIGOROUS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

A rigorous measurement system is essential for achieving an effective healthcare policy. The key factors of such a system are:

  • traceability to the International System of Units, or SI (scientific metrology),
  • regulations concerning measurements and measuring instruments (legal metrology), and
  • confidence in testing and measurement results through certification, standardization, accreditation, and calibration (industrial metrology).

At the international level, national measurement systems must be compatible and harmonized, while mutual trust and mutual recognition arrangements are indispensable.

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) contributes to the coordination of arrangements and maintains international reference equipment designed to ensure the comparability of the many national measurement standards established by national metrology institutes.

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), together with national legal metrology authorities, works on developing harmonized regulations concerning measurements and measuring instruments used to guarantee health protection.

The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) and the OIML have respectively established a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA) and the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS), which serve as frameworks for demonstrating the consistency of measurements and tests at the international level.

Thus, wherever they are in the world, patients, families, healthcare professionals, communities, and policymakers can have confidence in the reliability of health-related measurements.