Medical Device Position Sensing with Multi-Unit Signal Synchronization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical device positioning hardware is limited in its capacity to determine the positions of a large plurality of position sensors, particularly in advanced medical devices with multiple flexible sections and instruments, and lacks sufficient channels for simultaneous signal processing, necessitating costly replacements or additional electromagnetic signals.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates an additional interface unit with extended input channels and a synchronization processor to connect and synchronize multiple position sensors with existing hardware, allowing simultaneous processing of location signals without replacing existing transmitters or acquiring additional signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional medical device positioning hardware is used, then existing equipment can maintain current operations, but the capacity to determine positions of a large plurality of position sensors is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the signal acquisition functionality into multiple independent signal acquisition devices, each capable of receiving and processing signals from position sensors. This segmentation allows the system to scale to accommodate a large plurality of sensors without requiring a complete hardware replacement, as each device can be independently configured and managed.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning system is designed with universal signal acquisition devices that can handle multiple types of signals from various position sensors simultaneously. The system's interface units and processing capabilities are configured to accommodate different sensor types and signal formats, enabling the existing hardware to support an expanded number of sensors across multiple medical devices.
2Quantity of substance
If additional position sensors are connected to existing hardware, then sensing capability is improved, but signal processing channels become insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The signal processing function is segmented across multiple independent signal acquisition devices, each with its own processing channels. This allows the system to distribute the processing load across multiple devices rather than overloading a single hardware unit, thereby maintaining signal processing capacity while accommodating additional sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system expands the signal processing architecture from a single-plane processing model to a multi-dimensional distributed processing model. By organizing signal acquisition and processing across multiple devices operating in parallel, the system effectively adds processing dimensions, enabling simultaneous handling of signals from a large number of sensors without channel conflicts.
3Quantity of substance
If existing transmitters are replaced to accommodate more sensors, then sensor capacity is improved, but system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs universal signal acquisition devices and interface units that can work with existing transmitters while also supporting additional sensors. This multi-functional design allows the system to accommodate more sensors without requiring transmitter replacement, as the existing transmitters continue to operate with the expanded sensor array through the universal interface layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces interface units as intermediary components between the existing transmitters and the additional position sensors. These interface units mediate the signal flow, allowing existing transmitters to continue functioning while enabling connection to a larger number of sensors, thereby avoiding the need for expensive transmitter replacements.
4Quantity of substance
If multiple signal acquisition devices are used to process signals from multiple sensors, then sensing capacity is improved, but synchronization between devices becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements synchronization mechanisms that use feedback from the signal acquisition devices to maintain temporal alignment. By monitoring and adjusting the operation of each device based on feedback regarding signal timing and device state, the system ensures that all devices remain synchronized even when processing signals from multiple sensors simultaneously.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Disclosed is a positioning system adapted to determine positions of medical devices/instruments from position signals acquired by at least a first and second signal acquisition devices sampling outputs from different position sensors of the medical devices and transmitting them in packets. The system includes a calibration signal generator which is connectable to each of the acquisition devices and generates a calibration signal whose frequency is switched between a plurality of frequencies. A synchronization processor processes concurrent packets including the calibration signal sampled by the first and second acquisition devices and thereby determines synchronization parameters for synchronizing between the position signals sampled by the different acquisition devices. For example, the synchronization processor is adapted to determine respective transition times between two frequencies in the calibration signal sampled by each of the acquisition devices, and based on the transition times, determine time shift(s) between the samplings made by the different acquisition devices.