Arthroscopy tower: pooling the whole stack, not just the camera
Camera, light source and shaver where arthroscopy is offered.
The range above is an indicative planning figure taken from our own research, not a quotation and not an offer. buytogethr is pre-launch and has closed no pools.
What you are actually buying
An arthroscopy tower is bought as a stack rather than as a machine: camera control unit and camera head, light source and cable, an arthroscope of a stated diameter and viewing angle, a shaver or resector console with handpiece, a fluid management or insufflation pump, a monitor and a trolley. Quotes diverge on which of those the price includes, on scope diameter and angle, and on whether the camera head and scope tolerate the sterilisation cycle the institution actually runs. The common error is treating this as a capital purchase alone. Shaver blades, burrs and radiofrequency wands are proprietary single-use items, and across a few hundred cases they can weigh more than the tower. Put the consumable schedule in the same document as the tower.
Why arthroscopy tower suits collective purchasing
Arthroscopy pools less automatically than ward equipment, because surgeons hold views on camera handling and scope feel that no single specification can flatten. The way to pool it is to standardise the stack — resolution, light source type, pump and shaver console — qualify more than one endoscopy supplier on documents, put them through a demonstration with the operating surgeons, and only then open price. The supplier side is concentrated enough for that competition to be real. Because any one institution buys a tower once, and then not again for years, a group of orthopaedic units is what turns isolated single-unit purchases into a quantity worth quoting against.
Pin down before price
- Scope diameter and viewing angle, and how many scopes sit inside the price
- Sterilisation method for camera head and scope that the CSSD can actually run
- Whether shaver console, handpiece and fluid pump are included or quoted apart
- Per-case cost and minimum order quantity for blades, burrs and RF wands
- Monitor, recording and trolley — supplied, or expected from the hospital
What drives ten-year cost
- Single-use blades and wands, costed per case rather than per year
- Camera head and light cable repair after repeated sterilisation cycles
- Lamp or LED module life in the light source
- Service cover for the console stack once the warranty period ends