Medical Imaging Device Surface Cleaning via Contact Sensor Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical imaging devices are often cleaned inefficiently due to unclear identification of surfaces that require cleaning after patient or staff contact, leading to unnecessary extensive cleaning and potential oversight of critical surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A method involving surface sensor units to record and evaluate contact data, generating cleaning information for identified surfaces, and providing this information to users for targeted and efficient cleaning, including a cleaning plan and visualization for manual or automatic cleaning processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire device is cleaned every time, then all surfaces are ensured to be cleaned, but the cleaning process becomes excessively time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The device surfaces are segmented into multiple individual surfaces, each equipped with its own sensor unit. This allows the cleaning system to identify and process only the specific surfaces that require cleaning rather than cleaning the entire device, thus reducing cleaning time while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
Sensor units on each surface provide feedback about contact with patients or staff. This feedback information is used to dynamically determine which surfaces need cleaning, enabling a targeted cleaning approach that maintains reliability while reducing unnecessary cleaning time.
2Ease of operation
If cleaning operatives manually identify surfaces requiring cleaning, then cleaning decisions can be made, but surfaces may be overlooked or incorrectly identified
Solution Approach 1:
Sensor units provide automated feedback about which surfaces have been contacted by patients or staff. This objective feedback replaces subjective manual identification, ensuring accurate and reliable surface identification without human error or oversight.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs self-monitoring through sensor units that automatically detect contact on each surface. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual identification by cleaning operatives, providing both ease of operation and high reliability simultaneously.
3Measurement precision
If surface sensor units are installed on each surface, then contact detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple independent surface segments, each with its own sensor unit. This segmentation enables precise contact detection on each surface while allowing the system to process information in a modular way, managing complexity through structured organization.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple sensor units perform the same function (contact detection) on different surfaces. This universality allows the system to use a standardized approach across all surfaces, simplifying the overall system architecture despite the increased number of components.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing cleaning information for at least one surface of a medical imaging device. The method includes: recording contact data indicating contact between a person and at least one surface of the medical imaging device, wherein the contact data is recorded by at least one surface sensor unit; evaluating the contact data by an evaluation unit, wherein the evaluation of the contact data comprises identifying those surfaces of the medical imaging device which indicate a contact with and/or a physical proximity to a person; and generating cleaning information for the identified surfaces on the basis of the evaluated contact data and providing the cleaning information for the surfaces.