Most of us probably don’t think too much about the wheels underneath a hospital bed or IV pole but healthcare professionals do! When it comes to medical equipment, casters do a lot more than just roll. The little caster is a mighty player in the battle for maneuverability.
Casters may be physically small components, but they carry a big responsibility. From those with locking mechanisms that help ensure beds do not roll when a patient is being moved, to those designed to swivel so medical carts can glide effortlessly in and around people and equipment, casters are a big deal.
Let’s take a look.
Essential Medical Equipment Casters
From the sturdy swivel casters that navigate tight corners effortlessly to heavy-duty models that support critical equipment, casters play an important role in facilitating efficiency and safety in healthcare environments. In this section, we will review different types of casters used on medical equipment, explore their unique features and the benefits they bring to the delivery of care.
Swivel Casters: Maneuverability at its Best
Swivel casters are the workhorses of the caster world. They offer 360-degree rotation for smooth navigation around tight corners and crowded hospital rooms. These casters are often found on hospital beds, infant bassinets, and medical carts where precision maneuverability is essential.
Locking Casters: Ensuring Stability and Safety
Locking casters are designed with a mechanism that prevents the wheels from rolling. These locks offer stability when the equipment needs to remain stationary. In medical environments, where safety is paramount, locking casters is a non-negotiable feature for equipment such as IV stands and medication carts.
Antistatic Casters: Protecting Sensitive Environments
Antistatic casters are designed to dissipate static electricity, making them ideal for use in environments where sensitive electronic equipment or devices, such as those used in operating rooms and clean rooms, must be protected from electrostatic discharge (ESD).
Heavy-Duty Casters: Supporting Large Loads
In settings where medical equipment supports heavy loads, such as patient transport stretchers and medical supply carts, heavy-duty casters are essential. These casters are robustly built to withstand higher weights and frequent use.
Low-Profile Casters: Space-Saving and Compact
Low-profile casters are characterized by their compact size and reduced height, making them suitable for medical equipment, such as under counter medical carts, stored where space is limited.
Choosing the Right Wheels for the Caster
Selecting the appropriate caster wheel material is not just about functionality but also about ensuring the safety and efficiency of the medical equipment. Each type of wheel material offers unique benefits that support the medical equipment relying on them, whether it is improving mobility, meeting hygiene standards, or protecting sensitive equipment.
Let's roll through the benefits of each material.
Rubber Wheels:
Rubber caster wheels are celebrated for their versatility and shock absorption. They are ideally suited for hospital beds, medical carts, and other equipment used in environments where quiet operation and floor protection are essential. The soft tread of rubber wheels ensures smooth movement without leaving marks or damaging the flooring on patient floors and operating rooms.
Polyurethane Wheels:
For medical equipment that requires durability and greater load-bearing capacity, polyurethane wheels step up to the plate. These wheels are known for their resistance to wear and tear, as well as their ability to support heavy loads without sacrificing much needed mobility. They are commonly found on surgical tables, diagnostic machines, and larger medical carts that need to navigate smoothly across a variety of surfaces without compromising stability.
Stainless Steel Wheels:
When hygiene and resistance to corrosion are non-negotiable, stainless steel caster wheels take the lead. These wheels are a staple in sterile environments where cleanliness is paramount, think surgical suites and laboratories. Their robust construction ensures they can withstand frequent cleaning and sterilization procedures without deteriorating over time. Stainless steel wheels are the go-to for equipment like anesthesia machines, medical waste bins, and certain IV stands.
Nylon Wheels:
Nylon caster wheels are acclaimed for their strength and resilience, particularly in environments where frequent movement and weight distribution are critical factors. These wheels are often used on stretchers, patient lifts, and rehabilitation equipment specifically because of their ability to handle substantial loads and endure constant use without wearing down. The smooth surface of nylon wheels also contributes to the ease of movement so important to staff in busy healthcare settings.
Anti-Static Wheels:
In the specialized medical environments where static electricity poses a risk to sensitive equipment and patient safety anti-static caster wheels are non-negotiable. These wheels are designed to dissipate static electricity so the likelihood of sparks that could potentially interfere with electronic devices or cause discomfort to patients is significantly reduced. They are commonly found on equipment used in operating rooms and clean rooms.
While it is undeniable that the wheels themselves play a big role in the performance of casters, it is the combination of all the components working together that make the humble caster almost as game changing as the invention of the wheel itself in the late Neolithic.
Anatomy of the Caster
Let’s take a closer look at all the components of a locking swivel caster.
The Wheel Itself: The Core of Motion
At the heart of every caster is, of course, the wheel. Medical caster wheels can be made of a variety of materials and are chosen based on where and how the equipment will be used.
The Swivel Mechanism: Making Tight Turns Look Easy
Next up is the swivel bearing - this component allows the caster to rotate the 360 degrees needed for next level maneuverability. Think about a nurse navigating a crowded hallway with a medication cart - without swiveling casters, it would be nearly impossible.
High-quality medical casters use precision ball bearings in the swivel mechanism for smooth, effortless turning with minimal friction, even under load.
The Locking System: When You Need to Stop on a Dime
Here’s where things get interesting: the lock. Medical casters often include two types of locks:
- Wheel lock – Stops the wheel from turning.
- Swivel lock – Stops the caster from swiveling.
Some locking casters have total lock systems, which freeze both the wheel and the swivel at once, an extremely useful feature for equipment like hospital beds, surgical tables, or crash carts, where movement needs to be fully halted for safety.
Locks are most commonly foot-activated for convenience - just a simple tap with your shoe engages or releases the lock.
The Mounting Stem or Plate: How It All Connects
This is the part that attaches the caster to the medical device. There are different mounting types:
- Stem casters (used for IV poles, small carts)
- Top plate casters (used for heavier equipment like beds or imaging devices)
The design of each is both strong and secure for use in medical settings where stability is everything. Nobody wants a wobbly wheel on a surgical light or a rolling ultrasound machine.
The Housing or Fork: Holding It All Together
This is the visible frame that wraps around the wheel and connects it to the swivel mechanism. For medical equipment, this is usually made of stainless steel or zinc-coated steel, both of which are durable and resistant to rust and disinfectants.
Some caster housings also include seals or shields to protect the internal bearings from debris, liquids, or cleaning chemicals.
And there you have it, an in-depth look at the small but mighty caster.
The next time you see a piece of medical equipment, take a moment to appreciate the small engineering marvels beneath it. Because when it comes to healthcare, even the wheels matter.
Partner with CME for Mobile Medical Equipment
As the United States’ largest specialty distributor solely focused on equipment used in healthcare, we have built long term relationships with industry leading manufacturers and know a thing or two about how important effortlessly mobile medical equipment is to healthcare staff.
Our expert account managers will work with you and the manufacturers’ representatives to help you keep things rolling with healthcare equipment designed for mobility.
Complementing CME’s expert focus on equipment used in healthcare are design and layout, project management, direct-to-site delivery, and biomedical services. We are the only medical equipment distributor nationwide, able to say we are truly a one-stop shop.
Direct-To-Site Logistics and Delivery Services
In addition to delivering medical equipment fully assembled with casters ready to start the day, when it is convenient for staff, our in-house Direct-to-Site services teams will also deliver healthcare equipment to the service location in the facility and install equipment, like wall-mounted diagnostic systems so they are ready for immediate use.
Biomedical Services
Our in-house Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) can support facility biomed teams by performing scheduled annual preventive maintenance on critical equipment such as vital signs monitors, AEDs, defibrillators, infusion pumps, suction units, ventilators, and beds.
Click CHAT to start the conversation about preventive maintenance contracts to help keep your mobile medical equipment in optimal condition.
Find your account manager and learn how CME can help you equip your facility with the mobile healthcare equipment you need and keep you in budget.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, layout and design, turnkey logistics, delivery, installation, and biomedical services. We represent 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers. With offices and warehousing coast to coast, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule.
