Medical Device Control System Using Natural Language Translation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of medical electromechanical devices' electronic controllers, with diverse communication protocols and commands, makes programming and configuring user electronic interface devices difficult, and requires failure-free operation, which is challenging especially in healthcare settings.
Innovation Solution
A control system that translates sequences of symbols, such as natural language phrases, into batches of commands executable by electronic controllers of medical devices, allowing operation across various user interfaces and devices without customization, using dictionaries and error handling mechanisms to ensure accurate translation and confirmation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If diverse communication protocols and commands are supported for different medical tools, then the compatibility and versatility of user electronic interface devices are improved, but the complexity of programming and configuring these devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a translation service as an intermediary component that receives natural language input from users and translates it into device-specific commands. This mediator layer handles the complexity of different communication protocols and commands internally, while presenting a simplified natural language interface to users. The translation service acts as a buffer between the user and the diverse medical devices, eliminating the need for users to directly program or configure different protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by allowing users to operate medical devices through natural language commands without requiring specialized programming knowledge. The translation service automatically interprets user intent and generates appropriate commands for the target device, making the system usable by non-experts while maintaining support for diverse device protocols.
2Ease of operation
If natural language processing is implemented to simplify user interface, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of command translation may deteriorate due to ambiguity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the translation service provides suggestions or clarifications to users when natural language input is ambiguous. The system can ask for confirmation or additional details to disambiguate commands, ensuring that the translated commands accurately reflect user intent. This feedback loop maintains reliability by preventing erroneous translations while preserving the simplicity of natural language input.
3Reliability
If confirmation mechanisms are added to verify command translation, then the reliability of operation is improved, but the time required to execute commands increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies confirmation mechanisms selectively rather than universally. Confirmations are requested only when translation ambiguity or potential safety issues are detected, while routine unambiguous commands are executed immediately without confirmation overhead. This partial application of confirmation reduces the overall time penalty while maintaining reliability where it is most needed.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A control system, a control method, and a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer executable program code for controlling electromechanical medical devices is disclosed herein. The method comprises: receiving by a control system a sequence of symbols; translating the received sequence of symbols into a batch of commands parsable by an electronic controller of the electromechanical medical device; sending the batch of commands from the control system to the electromechanical device; and causing by the electronic controller the electromechanical medical device to execute the batch of commands on the electromechanical medical device