Light Pointer Sterile Medical Device Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling and operating medical devices in operating theaters, such as touch screens, keyboards, mice, voice control, and remote controls, face challenges related to sterility maintenance and intuitive interaction, often disrupting the workflow and posing risks to sterility.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a light pointer that projects a delimited light cursor, detectable by a photosensitive surface on the display, converts presence and location information into control commands for medical devices, allowing remote and sterile operation without the need to physically interact with potentially unsterile surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If touch screens are used for controlling medical devices, then the control interface is intuitive and visual, but sterility is compromised requiring sterile drapes or sterile pens which impair image quality or require physical contact with potentially contaminated surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
A light pointer serves as an intermediary tool that allows surgeons to interact with the touch screen interface without direct contact. The light pointer projects a visible cursor that can be controlled remotely, acting as a mediator between the surgeon's hand and the display surface, thereby maintaining sterility while preserving intuitive visual control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct mechanical contact with the display surface (fingers touching screen) with an optical system. The light pointer uses optical projection to create a visible cursor on the screen, and optical sensors detect the cursor position, substituting mechanical interaction with optical field interaction to maintain sterility
2Illumination intensity
If sterile pens are used to interact with displays, then image quality is maintained without drapes, but the cost increases and sterility risk remains requiring multiple pen exchanges
Solution Approach 1:
The light pointer creates an optical copy or representation of the cursor on the display surface without requiring physical contact. Instead of using a physical sterile pen that touches the screen, the system projects light to create a virtual cursor copy that can be manipulated remotely, eliminating the need for physical sterile intermediaries
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the interaction function from the physical pen object and transfers it to an optical field. The light pointer system separates the control function from any physical contact medium, allowing the cursor to be controlled through optical means alone, removing the sterility management burden entirely
3Measurement precision
If surgeons approach the display to interact with the navigation system, then control precision is improved, but workflow is interrupted and sterility is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The light pointer system allows the display interface to serve itself by detecting the projected light cursor position through optical sensors built into or associated with the display. The system automatically converts the light cursor position into control commands without requiring surgeon movement or manual intervention, enabling remote self-operating control
4Reliability
If remote controls are used in sterile bags, then sterility is maintained, but control intuitiveness and precision are significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The light pointer utilizes visible light projection that creates a distinct optical signature on the display surface. The optical sensors detect specific light characteristics (intensity, position, pattern) to distinguish cursor presence and position, using optical property changes rather than physical contact properties to maintain both sterility and precision
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables seamless, sterile, and intuitive control of medical devices, maintaining workflow continuity by allowing surgeons to operate medical devices from their working position without compromising sterility, using a cost-effective and reliable light pointer system.
Implementation Method 1
a light pointer which projects a delimited light cursor
Implementation Method 2
a photosensitive surface or layer covering the display screen for determining the presence and location of the light cursor
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a system for controlling and/or operating a medical device (30) associated with a display (20; 50) on which medical images (24) and/or control and/or operating elements (21, 22, 25) are displayed, wherein the system comprises: - a light pointer (10; 40) which projects a delimited light cursor (14; 44); - a light detection device which is associated with the display and comprises a sensor (23) for determining the presence and location of the light cursor (14; 44) projected by the light pointer (10; 40); and - a converter (26) which converts the captured presence and location information into control and/or operating commands for the medical device. The invention also relates to a method for controlling and/or operating a medical device (30) associated with a display (20; 50) on which medical images (24) and/or control and/or operating elements (21, 22, 25) are displayed, wherein a delimited light cursor (14; 44) is projected onto the display (20; 50) by means of a light pointer (10; 40), wherein the presence and location on the display (20; 50) of the light cursor (14; 44) projected by the light pointer (10; 40) is detected by means of a sensor (23), and wherein the captured presence and location information is converted into control and/or operating commands for the medical device (30).