AR Display Sharing for Sterile Surgical Environments
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In medical interventional and surgical suites, the need for sterility and the use of multiple medical systems with separate display monitors create inefficiencies, as operators must maintain sterility and cannot easily interact with conventional information systems, limiting the availability and interactivity of medical information.
Innovation Solution
A visualization system that uses head-mounted displays (HMDs) to receive sensor data, determine user inputs, and generate graphical annotations, allowing seamless sharing of information between displays, enabling hands-free interaction through gaze direction and gestures, even in sterile environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional display monitors are used in sterile surgical fields, then medical information can be displayed, but operators cannot easily interact with the information systems due to sterility requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an augmented reality display system as an intermediary between the surgical field and medical information systems. This AR system allows surgeons to view medical information through head-mounted displays without touching conventional interfaces, while support personnel can control the system from non-sterile areas, effectively mediating the interaction between sterile and non-sterile zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical contact-based interaction (touching displays or controls) with wireless and optical systems. Surgeons interact with medical information through gaze tracking and voice commands in the AR environment, eliminating the need for physical contact with interfaces and thus maintaining sterility while preserving interactivity.
2Loss of information
If multiple separate display monitors are used for different medical systems, then comprehensive medical information is available, but information is duplicated across locations reducing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate medical information displays into a single unified augmented reality environment. The AR head-mounted display consolidates data from multiple medical systems into one overlay, eliminating duplication across separate physical monitors while maintaining comprehensive information availability in a single field of view.
Solution Approach 2:
The augmented reality display system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it displays real-time medical data, provides navigational guidance, shows anatomical overlays, and enables communication between team members. This multi-functional approach replaces multiple specialized displays with a single universal interface that adapts to different information needs.
3Ease of operation
If surgeons interact with conventional interfaces, then full control over medical information systems is achieved, but sterility is compromised requiring bagging procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical contact-based control interfaces with wireless and optical interaction methods. Surgeons use gaze tracking, voice commands, and hand gestures recognized by computer vision systems to control medical information displays, eliminating the need for physical contact and thus maintaining sterility without sacrificing control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The AR system acts as an intermediary layer between the surgeon and the medical information systems. Instead of directly touching conventional interfaces, surgeons interact with virtual interfaces overlaid in their field of view, while support personnel handle physical controls from non-sterile areas, maintaining the sterile barrier while preserving system control.
4Reliability
If support personnel are stationed in separate non-sterile areas, then sterility is maintained, but coordination with operators in sterile field becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the operational perspectives of both sterile and non-sterile personnel into a shared augmented reality environment. Support personnel can view the same AR overlay and patient data as surgeons through connected devices, enabling real-time coordination and communication without requiring physical proximity or breaking sterile barriers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements real-time feedback loops between surgeons and support personnel through the AR interface. Changes made by support personnel in non-sterile areas are immediately reflected in the AR display viewed by surgeons, and surgeon actions are instantly communicated to the support team, enabling efficient coordination while maintaining spatial separation and sterility.
Data Source
AI summary
A visualization system provides graphics for presentation on displays of multiple users who may be wearing head-mounted displays (HMDs). In an embodiment, the system determines that a first gaze direction of a first user is directed toward a first display. The system determines user inputs performed by the first user. The user inputs may be hands-free such as gestures of a hand or finger or voice commands. The system generates a graphical annotation using the user inputs. The system provides the graphical annotation to a first HMD for presentation to the first user. The system determines a second display paired to the first display. The system provides the graphical annotation to a second HMD for presentation to a second user looking at the second display. The displays may include a physical display or a virtual display, for example, in an augmented reality environment.