Gesture-Controlled Surgical Handset with Dynamic Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional handsets for controlling surgical operating tables are cumbersome and difficult to use, lacking ergonomic design and providing inadequate visual, audible, or touch feedback, making it time-consuming to select and control movement functions, especially with small buttons and varying icon designs across manufacturers.
Innovation Solution
A touchscreen-based handset with a control system that interprets gestures drawn on the display as input commands, allowing for intuitive control of movable surfaces or devices, providing haptic and visual feedback, and accommodating a landscape mode for easier operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional handsets with multiple push buttons and icons are used to control surgical operating tables, then movement functions can be controlled, but it becomes time-consuming and difficult for operators to search for and select the desired push button among many buttons in a small dimension array
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical push button system with a touchscreen display that responds to touch gestures. Instead of physically pressing buttons with printed icons, users interact with a graphical representation of the patient support device on the touchscreen, drawing gestures directly on the displayed image to control movements. This substitution eliminates the need to search through arrays of buttons and makes the control interface more intuitive and faster to use.
2Adaptability or versatility
If buttons are made small to fit more functions on the handset, then more movement functions can be controlled, but the icons and text become small and difficult to see and interpret
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional array of small buttons to a full-screen graphical interface where the entire touchscreen displays a large-scale visual representation of the patient support device. Users can see the complete device layout with clearly visible segments and control zones, eliminating the need to interpret small icons while maintaining the ability to control all movement functions through gestures drawn on the displayed image.
3Ease of operation
If a large screen is provided in landscape display mode to improve visibility and ease of use, then the display becomes easier to read and operate, but the handset becomes cumbersome and cannot fit comfortably in the hand due to size limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a touchscreen display that can dynamically adapt its display mode between portrait and landscape orientations based on the operational context. The system provides a universal interface that functions effectively in both orientations, allowing the handset to maintain ergonomic dimensions while delivering large-scale visual information when needed. The graphical representation and gesture controls work equally well in either orientation, eliminating the need to choose between size and usability.
4Ease of manufacture
If buttons are physically associated with specific movement functions through printed icons, then each button has a fixed usage, but the handset becomes bespoke and customised for each device, making it difficult to use a common handset for multiple devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a graphical copy or visual representation of the patient support device on the touchscreen display, showing the actual layout and configuration of the specific device being controlled. Instead of using physical buttons with generic icons, the system displays a digital replica of the device with control zones overlaid on the visual representation. This allows a single universal handset to adapt to any patient support device by loading the appropriate graphical interface, eliminating the need for device-specific button configurations while maintaining precise control over each device's unique movement functions.
Data Source
AI summary
A handset for controlling a device having a plurality of movable parts defining a support, or a movable surface, the handset having a housing, a touchscreen display on a front face of the housing, the touchscreen display being adapted to display an image representative of a device or surface to be controlled, and a control system within the housing which is connected to the touchscreen display, wherein the control system has an input module which is adapted to receive an input command in the form of a gesture drawn on the touchscreen display, and an output module which is adapted to generate an output control signal, associated with the input command, for transmission to the device or surface.