Fleet Management for Robotic Surgical Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
The operational difficulty and expense associated with robotic surgical systems stem from the need for significant on-site support personnel for installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair, which increases costs and reduces efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A fleet management system that centralizes the provisioning, management, and deprovisioning of robotic surgical systems, allowing for remote monitoring, software updates, and maintenance scheduling, thereby reducing the requirement for on-site personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If on-site support personnel are deployed for installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of robotic surgical systems, then system reliability and operational support are improved, but operational costs and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic surgical system performs self-diagnosis and self-reporting of operational status through integrated sensors and monitoring systems that automatically detect and communicate system states, component health, and operational parameters to the fleet management server, eliminating the need for manual inspection by on-site personnel
Solution Approach 2:
A fleet management server acts as an intermediary between multiple robotic surgical systems and support personnel, centralizing the management of provisioning, software updates, maintenance scheduling, and diagnostic data collection, thereby reducing the need for direct on-site intervention
2Reliability
If on-site support personnel are deployed for installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of robotic surgical systems, then system reliability is improved, but operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically monitors its own operational status, component wear, and performance metrics through integrated sensors and diagnostics, enabling self-reported maintenance needs and eliminating the need for continuous on-site personnel deployment
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet management server receives continuous feedback from robotic systems regarding operational status, software versions, and maintenance requirements, enabling proactive remote management and optimization of support resource allocation
3Productivity
If centralized fleet management with remote monitoring is implemented, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fleet management server provides multiple functions including provisioning, software distribution, maintenance scheduling, diagnostic data collection, and system registration through a single centralized platform, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems for each function
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical processes such as physical media transfer for software installation and paper-based maintenance scheduling are replaced with automated electronic communication and digital record-keeping through the fleet management server
4Reliability
If secure communication protocols and certificate management are implemented for fleet management, then system security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Security certificates and encryption keys are generated and distributed to robotic systems during the initial provisioning phase before the systems begin operational communication, ensuring that security infrastructure is already in place before data transmission begins
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet management server acts as a trusted intermediary that generates and manages security certificates for robotic systems, centralizing the complex cryptographic operations and certificate lifecycle management in a single secure location
Data Source
AI summary
One method for fleet management of robotic surgical systems includes receiving, by a management server from a robotic surgery system, a provisioning request; in response to receiving the provisioning request: generating an encryption key pair for the robotic surgery system, the encryption key pair comprising a private key and a public key, communicating the private key to the robotic surgery system, and communicating a set of secure certificates to the robotic surgery system, at least one of the secure certificates enabling secure communications between the robotic surgery system and the management server; receiving from the robotic surgery system, and using the at least one secure certificate enabling secure communications, a message indicating one or more software packages, each software package indicating a version of an installed software package on the robotic surgery system; communicating one or more software updates to the robotic surgery system based on the message; and registering, at the management server, the robotic surgery system.