Head-Worn Medical Display for Procedure-Step Vital Sign Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical professionals face challenges in efficiently obtaining and processing patient vital information during procedures due to the need to constantly switch focus between the patient and multiple display units, leading to increased strain and potential errors, especially in time-critical situations.
Innovation Solution
A medical system comprising a patient monitoring unit, a portable display worn on the user's head, and detection units to determine procedure and patient conditions, allowing targeted display of vital information based on the user's field of view and procedural steps, reducing the need to manually filter through multiple displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple display units are used to provide comprehensive patient information, then information completeness is improved, but user attention strain and procedural safety deteriorate due to the need to constantly switch focus between the patient and displays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple information sources (vital signs from monitoring units, procedural information from detection units, and visual field data) into a single integrated portable display worn by the user. This consolidation allows comprehensive patient information to be viewed alongside the patient without requiring attention switching, thereby maintaining information completeness while improving procedural safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable display acts as an intermediary device positioned between the user and the multiple separate display units. It receives data from various monitoring and detection units, processes this information, and presents it in a unified format that the user can access while maintaining focus on the patient, thus mediating the conflict between information access and attention concentration.
2Loss of information
If all vital information is continuously displayed, then information availability is improved, but user cognitive load and strain worsen due to the need to filter through large amounts of information
Solution Approach 1:
The portable display applies local quality by dynamically adjusting which information is displayed based on the current procedural context. The system detects the procedural step and the user's visual field, then selectively presents only the vital information relevant to that specific moment and location. This ensures information availability while reducing cognitive load by eliminating the need to filter through irrelevant data.
Solution Approach 2:
The display system is dynamic rather than static. It continuously adapts its content based on real-time inputs from procedure step detection units and visual field detection units. The displayed information changes automatically as the procedure progresses and as the user moves their gaze, ensuring that only currently relevant information is presented, thereby maintaining availability while minimizing cognitive strain.
3Measurement precision
If the surgeon focuses on monitoring patient condition from display units, then patient condition monitoring is improved, but procedural quality deteriorates due to diversion of focus from the actual procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the information display from a separate spatial dimension (external display units requiring gaze shifts) to a superimposed dimension over the user's visual field. The portable display presents patient condition information in the same visual space where the patient is located, allowing the surgeon to monitor vital signs without leaving the procedural view, thus maintaining both monitoring precision and procedural quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-filtering and pre-organizing vital information based on the detected procedural step before the user needs to view it. The relevant parameters are automatically selected and presented in advance, so when the user glances at the display, the information is already contextualized and ready for immediate interpretation, eliminating the need to actively search or filter during the procedure.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical system comprises a patient monitoring unit which is designed to record a vital sign of a patient, a portable display which can be worn on the head of a user and which, when worn, provides a user with an at least substantially unobstructed view of an environment within a field of view of the user, wherein the portable display is configured, when worn, to display vital information within the field of view of the user which relates to the one vital sign, and a procedure step detection unit configured to determine at least one procedure step parameter describing which step of a plurality of steps of a procedure to be performed by the user on the patient the user is currently performing, wherein the portable display is configured to display and/or refrain from displaying the vital information on the basis of the procedure step parameter.