Augmented Reality Headset for MRI Patient Anxiety Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical imaging devices, such as MRI scanners, often cause claustrophobia and anxiety in patients due to their enclosed cylindrical bore, and existing virtual reality solutions can disconnect patients from their surroundings, leading to reduced situational awareness and potential safety issues.
Innovation Solution
An augmented reality device that uses a headset with cameras and directional sensors to create a panorama image of the medical imaging laboratory, allowing patients to maintain awareness of their environment by making the imaging device partially transparent or removing it from view, while ensuring they can hear instructions and remain aware of their surroundings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If virtual reality headset is used to distract patients during imaging, then patient anxiety is reduced, but patient situational awareness is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an augmented reality overlay as an intermediary between the patient and the real environment. Instead of completely immersing the patient in virtual reality (which would block situational awareness), the system superimposes virtual elements onto the real-world view through the camera feed, allowing patients to remain aware of their surroundings while receiving anxiety-reducing virtual content
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies virtual reality elements selectively rather than uniformly. The augmented reality overlay allows patients to see through the camera while having specific virtual elements (such as calming scenes or information) overlaid in specific regions of the display, providing targeted anxiety relief without compromising overall situational awareness
2Loss of information
If panorama image processing is used to show full laboratory view, then patient situational awareness is improved, but processing time and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The panorama image processing is divided into segments that can be independently handled. The system captures the laboratory environment through cameras and processes different regions of the panorama separately, allowing for efficient rendering and display on the headset without requiring complete processing of the entire panorama at once
Solution Approach 2:
The system processes and displays only the necessary portions of the panorama image at any given moment based on the patient's viewing direction and head orientation. Rather than processing the entire 360-degree panorama simultaneously, the system renders only the relevant field of view, reducing computational load and processing time
Data Source
AI summary
An augmented reality device used in a medical imaging laboratory housing a medical imaging device (10) includes a headset (30), cameras (32, 33) mounted in the medical imaging laboratory, and directional sensors (34, 35, 36, 37) mounted on the headset. The cameras generate a panorama image (54). Data collected by the directional sensors is processed to determine the viewing direction (60). The panorama image and the determined viewing direction are processed to generate an augmented patient view image (80) in which the medical imaging device is removed, replaced, or made partially transparent, the augmented image is presented on a display (40) of the headset. The directional sensors may include a headset camera (34) that provides a patient view image (50), which is augmented by removing or making partially transparent any portion of the medical imaging device in the patient view image by substituting corresponding portions of the panorama image.