LED players are coming up with innovative products that can cater to the healthcare segment across the nation
By: Belal Khan
There is a need for high standards in the overall lighting in hospitals and other healthcare centres, especially at a time when green and clean energy is at the top of the agenda in India and around the globe.
In the healthcare industry, electricity is used 24×7; hospitals are the second largest energy consumers as well as producers of greenhouse gases. LEDs are today the preferred lighting choice at hospitals across the world, and this has helped them lower their carbon footprint and energy bills by incorporating green designs.
LED manufacturers offer a wide range of solutions, which are tailored to meet the requirements of the healthcare sector. In this segment, NTL Lemnis offers a range of LED lighting products under the ‘Pharox’ brand. Its Pharox ceiling lights, Pharox downlights and LED tubelights have been introduced specially to meet the requirements of the healthcare sector.
“LED lighting solutions are immensely useful for the hospital industry. They can be used in patients’ rooms, waiting areas, lobbies, etc. Their various benefits include low maintenance, energy efficiency and the fact that the technology enables the development of products with very specific functionalities. LEDs help to maintain light levels for critical visual tasks like in the operating theatre. They produce highly focused and unidirectional light, which means there is very little light wastage,” says Arun Gupta, MD, NTL Group.
Latest trends
LEDs are not only energy-efficient but they check infections, too. As an LED lighting fixture needs to be changed very few times (owing to its longer life), the chances of spreading an infection outside a specific area where the lights are installed are also less. Also, because these fixtures are tightly sealed, there is negligible collection of dust and bacteria on and around them.
The latest trend and the most important use of LED lighting is in MRI and CT scan rooms. Apart from that, LED fixtures are being used for general lighting purposes throughout the hospitals.
“NTL Lemnis has been offering LED lights across the healthcare segment. We have provided hospitals, clinics, pathology labs, etc, with our lighting solutions. Some of our esteemed clients include Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Adani Hospital and Zydus Hospital,” says Gupta.
According to Ajit Birnale, CEO of Swarnlite, a leading manufacturer of high-power LED lighting and backlighting solutions, the three latest trends in the LED healthcare sector are:
- Display signage, which is used to create a pleasant ambience for bedridden patients.
- Blue LEDs, which can be used in curing jaundice that new born babies are sometimes afflicted with—the technology used in D-Rev’s Brilliance device.
- High-brightness LED strips with special colour temperatures that are used for X-ray viewing machines.
Benefits of LEDs in hospitals
Sealed LED lighting units protect harmful bacteria from spreading in the hospital. The fully-sealed units prevent dust, deadly bugs and harmful bacteria from collecting around the light fittings.
LED lights are MRI safe because they do not use metals that are affected by magnetic fields, nor do they emit radio frequencies. LED tubes and bulbs are dimmable, making them ideal for CT scan and ultrasound rooms where dimming may be required for better observation and patient comfort.
Besides, the longer life spans of LED lights mean lower maintenance. And quality LED light impacts overall productivity and health.
According to sources at NTL Lemnis, the Pharox range is low-maintenance and supposedly offers an excellent value for money proposition, while saving energy as well.
NTL Lemnis has developed three special categories of products for the health sector, which are being widely used in hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories and clinics. These are ceiling lights, downlights and LED tubelights.
Types of lights
NTL Lemnis has launched highly efficient Pharox LED ceiling lights that meet the various requirements of workspaces and recreational areas in hospitals. They are aesthetically pleasing and distribute light uniformly in all areas. The glare-free solutions are soothing for the patients too.
Pharox LED downlights emit warm and pleasant white light as per requirements and are used in areas like corridors, lobbies, rooms, food courts, etc.
The energy-efficient and durable Pharox LED tubelights, which have internal drivers to ensure flexibility during installation and maintenance, with efficacy that’s greater than 110lm/w, are used in the parking and storage areas.
The Pharox range is available in the market through NTL Lemnis’ distributors.
Hospitals, nursing homes, dentists and medical equipment manufacturers are the major buyers in this segment.
LED lights for operation theatres, X-ray viewing machines and bilirubin boxes are some of the new products in this category.
However, leading brands like Philips do not offer any specialised products for the healthcare sector but their wide range of energy-saving LEDs cater to this segment also.
“There isn’t much of specialisation or a different range of products specifically for the healthcare sector. The same products and solutions used for any other indoor lighting requirement are used in the healthcare sector too. Only the application might be different, and there isn’t any specific launch planned for this segment currently,” a top official of Philips told LED Bazaar.
According to an Equentis Capital report, the Indian healthcare industry is expected to reach US$ 158.2 billion in 2017, as it is growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent, having jumped from US$ 45 billion in 2008 to US$ 78.6 billion in 2012. So there is bound to be huge demand for energy-efficient, innovative LED lighting in this sector.
By Belal Khan
