Medical Dose Prep Workstation With Adjustable Imaging and Contrast Tray
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional medical dose preparation workstations face challenges in maintaining sterility, providing modular background colors for improved contrast, ensuring focal length consistency, and reducing the need for repeated sterilization due to out-of-sterile-field actuation of imaging device controls.
Innovation Solution
A medical dose preparation work station with an adjustable arm to maintain focal length, a flippable tray with light and dark sides for contrast, and membrane buttons within the sterile field to capture images while preserving sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a scale is added to the staging area for gravimetric measurement, then dosage verification capability is improved, but the imaging device focal length is disrupted causing images to be out of focus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension adjustment mechanism (adjustable arm or telescoping support) to compensate for the height increase caused by adding a scale. This allows the imaging device to maintain proper focal distance by moving vertically, thus resolving the conflict between adding measurement capability and maintaining imaging focus.
2Manufacturing precision
If the imaging device focal length is configured to focus on containers at the staging area level, then image capture quality is improved, but gravimetric measurement capability is reduced due to height limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the imaging device height adjustable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adapt to different staging area configurations. This enables the system to switch between focusing on containers at standard height and accommodating scales for gravimetric measurement, thus resolving the contradiction between image quality and measurement versatility.
3Ease of operation
If controls for the imaging device are placed outside the sterile field for ease of operation, then operator accessibility is improved, but sterility is compromised requiring repeated sterilization steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a sterile adapter or interface mechanism that allows the operator to control the imaging device from outside the sterile field while maintaining sterility. This intermediary component enables remote operation without compromising the sterile environment, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and sterility maintenance.
4Device complexity
If a single background color is used on the staging area, then device complexity is reduced, but contrast for detecting color changes in compounds is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a staging area background that can present different colors in different locations or configurations. This allows the system to provide high contrast for specific detection tasks (such as detecting color changes in compounds) while maintaining overall simplicity, thus resolving the contradiction between device complexity and detection capability.
Data Source
AI summary
Improved medical dose preparation work stations and accessories are described. The medical dose preparation work station includes a camera for capturing medical dose preparation images (e.g., to document preparation of a mediation dose). The camera may be actuated by an operator using a plurality of membrane buttons on a base of the medical dose preparation work station. The medical dose preparation work station further includes an adjustable arm to hold the camera at a desired focal length from a staging area defined by a tray such that objects in the images from the camera remain in focus. The tray includes a light side and a dark side configured to provide a high contrast background for an operator and for the camera.