AR Servicing Guidance for Medical Imaging Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical imaging devices present complex maintenance challenges due to their intricate systems and constant development, leading to difficulties for service personnel in accessing necessary information and performing maintenance efficiently, especially in field settings where downtime needs to be minimized.
Innovation Solution
An augmented reality (AR) based servicing guidance system using a mobile device with a camera and electronic processor for computer vision processing, aligning AR content with live or recorded video feeds to provide real-time, point-of-view assistance and updates for maintenance tasks, leveraging recorded service calls to author AR content that can be used for future service calls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If service personnel use written service manuals and CAD drawings for maintenance, then they have access to documented procedures, but the information becomes dated and fails to reflect current device configurations or field servicing realities
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures feedback from actual field servicing situations by recording video of service calls and using this feedback to continuously update and refine AR content. This ensures the maintenance information remains current and reflects actual field conditions, resolving the contradiction between having documented procedures and having up-to-date, practically applicable information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables service personnel to serve themselves by providing real-time AR guidance directly in the field, eliminating the need to rely on potentially outdated manual documentation. The AR system adapts to the specific device configuration and servicing situation at hand, providing self-updating information that is both current and practically applicable.
2Reliability
If service personnel consult experts via telephonic or video conferencing, then they receive specialized assistance, but this occupies valuable expert time and requires coordination scheduling
Solution Approach 1:
The AR system enables service personnel to diagnose and resolve issues independently in real-time by providing automated expert guidance directly at the point of need. This eliminates the need for coordination scheduling and reduces the time lost to communication overhead, while maintaining reliable expert assistance through the automated AR content.
Solution Approach 2:
The AR system acts as an intermediary between service personnel and experts, translating expert knowledge into actionable real-time guidance. This mediator approach provides continuous expert assistance without requiring direct human interaction, thereby eliminating coordination time while maintaining reliability.
3Loss of information
If service personnel rely on verbal descriptions and video feeds for remote expert assistance, then communication is possible, but important information is lost in transferring situational data
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates an accurate visual copy of the service situation by capturing video of the actual device and environment, then overlays AR content that precisely mirrors the physical state. This copying approach preserves all situational data accurately, eliminating information loss that occurs with verbal descriptions while managing complexity through automated visual processing.
4Adaptability or versatility
If medical imaging devices are continuously developed with optional components, then the devices remain state-of-the-art, but service personnel struggle to keep knowledge updated about every potential maintenance task
Solution Approach 1:
The AR system provides dynamic, real-time guidance that adapts to the specific device configuration and components present during each service call. Rather than requiring service personnel to memorize all possible maintenance tasks for every optional component, the system dynamically generates relevant information based on the actual device state, making operation easier while maintaining adaptability to device variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing and analyzing device information before the service call begins, pre-configuring the AR guidance content specific to that device's configuration. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for service personnel to study all possible components in advance, reducing knowledge requirements while maintaining versatility support.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution provides real-time automated assistance, minimizing downtime by offering AR content that is tightly integrated with service operations, allowing for efficient handling of maintenance tasks and updates, even with varying device configurations and components.
Implementation Method 1
an electronic processor programmed to perform computer vision (CV) processing to align AR content with a live video feed captured by the camera of the mobile device
Data Source
AI summary
Augmented reality (AR) servicing guidance uses a mobile device (30, 90) with a display and a camera. Computer vision (CV) processing (102) such as Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM) is performed to align AR content (80) with a live video feed (96) captured by the camera. The aligned AR content is displayed on the display of the mobile device. In one example, the mobile device is a head-up display (HUD) (90) with a transparent display (92, 94) and camera (20). In another example the mobile device is a cellphone or tablet computer (30) with a front display (34) and a rear-facing camera (36). The AR content (80) is generated by CV processing (54) to align (70) AR content with recorded video (40) of a service call. The aligning (72) includes aligning locations of interest (LOIs) identified in the recorded video of the service call by a user input.