Magnetic Tracking Virtual Touch Screen for Invasive Medical Instruments
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Medical professionals performing invasive procedures often need to disengage from operating the invasive device to interact with conventional user interfaces like keyboards or touch screens, disrupting their workflow and requiring assistance.
Innovation Solution
A magnetic tracking system that allows operators to use a stylus or interface device with embedded magnetic sensors to interact with a virtual touch screen, enabling them to control on-screen elements without leaving their operating position, using magnetic fields to determine the stylus's location and position it on a display, allowing for virtual reality or augmented reality interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional user interface devices (keyboard, mouse, touch screen) are used, then the system can be controlled, but the operator must disengage from manipulating the invasive device and move to a different position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the user interface functionality with the medical instrument itself by integrating a display device into the handle of the catheter or surgical tool. This allows the operator to control system parameters and interact with the system while maintaining contact with the invasive device, eliminating the need to switch between devices and positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera or imaging system as an intermediary that captures visual information from the procedural field and transmits it to the display device on the instrument handle. This intermediary system enables the operator to see both the procedural area and control interfaces simultaneously, facilitating continuous engagement with the invasive device while maintaining system control.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the operator uses a conventional user interface, then system controls can be accessed, but assistance from another person is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the integrated display device to serve multiple functions: it displays procedural imaging, provides system control interfaces, and offers real-time feedback on instrument parameters. This multi-functional design consolidates what would otherwise require separate devices and personnel into a single integrated system that the operator can control independently.
3Measurement precision
If magnetic tracking is used to locate the invasive device, then real-time position data is obtained, but the operator cannot interact with the console without leaving the operating position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a spatial dimension to the user interface by placing the display device on the handle of the invasive instrument, creating a three-dimensional workspace where the operator can access both the procedural field and control interfaces in the same physical space. This eliminates the traditional two-dimensional separation between the operating position and console location.
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 user interaction with medical systems, allowing operators to perform tasks like marking points or drawing lines on images without physical contact, enhancing workflow efficiency and reducing the need for assistants during invasive medical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic field generator produces a field in and around an area of the body
Implementation Method 2
The radiator coils generate electromagnetic fields in a vicinity of the tissue, thereby causing currents to flow in the sensor coils
Data Source
AI summary
Control of an invasive medical instrument during a medical procedure is achieved using a system that includes magnetic field-based location facilities. Magnetic field sensors are placed in a medical instrument, e.g., a probe, and in an interface device to enable respective positions of the probe and the interface device to be ascertained by a location processor when the sensors are exposed to a magnetic field. The interface device is disposed such that an operator can control the medical instrument and the interface device concurrently. A display device, which can comprise a virtual reality display, is responsive to movements of the interface device as determined by the location processor to control the medical instrument, invoke various functions of the system, e.g., image manipulation, and otherwise facilitate the medical procedure via a graphical user interface.