Autoregulation Monitoring GUI Focused on Lower Limit Display

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing monitoring systems for autoregulation status in patients are cluttered with unnecessary information, particularly the upper limit of autoregulation (ULA), which distracts clinicians and provides little useful insight, making it difficult to determine if a patient is in an intact or impaired autoregulation state.

Innovation Solution

A graphical user interface (GUI) that displays autoregulation status without indicating the ULA, focusing on blood pressure values over time and the lower limit of autoregulation (LLA) to provide a clearer, less distracting monitoring experience for clinicians.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the GUI displays both LLA and ULA values, then comprehensive autoregulation information is provided, but the interface becomes cluttered and distracting for clinicians

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautoregulation informationVSAvoidclinician focus

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes the ULA indicator from the GUI display, keeping only the LLA indicator visible to clinicians. This selective extraction eliminates the distracting element (ULA) while preserving the critical information (LLA) needed for monitoring autoregulation status, directly resolving the contradiction between providing comprehensive information and maintaining ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Loss of information

If the GUI includes ULA indication, then complete autoregulation limits are shown, but clinician attention is diverted from the critical LLA monitoring

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautoregulation limit dataVSAvoidclinician distraction

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent converts the potentially harmful distraction caused by displaying ULA into a benefit by selectively omitting ULA from the display. This transforms the information completeness requirement into a design opportunity where only the critical LLA is shown, turning what could be an information loss into a focused monitoring solution that eliminates clinician distraction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

3Reliability

If comprehensive autoregulation monitoring is implemented, then accurate patient status assessment is enabled, but the monitoring interface becomes complex and difficult to use

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautoregulation status assessmentVSAvoidmonitoring interface

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies extraction by removing the ULA display element from the monitoring interface, simplifying the overall system complexity while maintaining reliable autoregulation status assessment. The interface complexity is reduced by displaying only the critical LLA parameter, allowing clinicians to accurately assess patient status without navigating a cluttered interface.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS12622651B2Autoregulation status monitoring

Publication Date: 2026.05.12 COVIDIEN LP

AI summary

Processing circuitry may receive one or more signals of a patient. The processing circuitry may determine an autoregulation status of the patient based at least in part on the one or more signals. The processing circuitry may output, for display at an output device, a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes an indication of the autoregulation status of the patient and an indication of a lower limit of autoregulation (LLA) value, wherein the GUI does not include an indication of an upper limit of autoregulation (LLA) value.