Mobile Device Anatomical Image Rendering via Sensor Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical simulation systems lack natural interaction with simulated anatomical structures, relying on keyboard and mouse interactions, and require costly hardware, limiting flexibility and intuitive user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method for dynamically rendering and manipulating anatomical images on mobile computing devices using sensors to determine orientation, allowing for intuitive interactions such as touch, gestures, and motion to simulate surgical procedures, ensuring the anatomical object appears stationary despite device orientation changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard desktop software with keyboard and mouse is used for medical simulation, then basic interaction functionality is achieved, but natural interaction with anatomical structures is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces keyboard and mouse mechanical input systems with motion sensors and accelerometers that detect natural device movement. The mobile device's sensor system substitutes for traditional mechanical interfaces, enabling intuitive interaction through physical gestures and orientation changes rather than discrete key presses or mouse movements.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device uses its own built-in sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, orientation detectors) to automatically track device movement and update the anatomical model display accordingly. The system serves itself by utilizing the device's inherent capabilities rather than requiring external specialized hardware or complex input mechanisms.
2Reliability
If specialized hardware is used to simulate surgical techniques, then accurate simulation capability is achieved, but cost increases and flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile device serves multiple functions: it displays anatomical models, tracks device orientation, processes surgical simulation interactions, and provides visual feedback all within a single universal platform. The system can adapt to different surgical techniques and anatomical structures without requiring specialized hardware for each procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the surgical environment and anatomical structures that can be manipulated on the mobile device screen. This digital replica allows accurate simulation of surgical procedures without needing physical models or specialized simulation hardware, reducing cost while maintaining fidelity.
3Ease of operation
If anatomical images are rendered on mobile device display, then portability and accessibility are improved, but maintaining stationary appearance during device movement becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the rendered anatomical model's position and orientation in response to real-time sensor data from device movement. Rather than attempting to keep the image physically stationary, the system dynamically transforms the virtual model to compensate for device motion, maintaining the perception that the anatomical structure remains stable in surgical space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a coordinate transformation system that acts as an intermediary between the mobile device's physical movement and the virtual anatomical model's display position. This intermediary layer processes sensor data and applies mathematical transformations to decouple device motion from model appearance, allowing the anatomical structure to appear stationary despite device movement.
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 more intuitive and flexible interaction with anatomical models, enhancing surgical planning and training by providing a cost-effective, portable solution that mimics natural interaction with anatomical structures, allowing for precise simulation of surgical techniques on mobile devices.
Implementation Method 1
determining a reference vector associated with the anatomical object, such that when rendering the anatomical object on the display, the reference vector is aligned with a gravity vector when the mobile computing device is oriented in a reference orientation
Data Source
AI summary
Methods are provided for rendering an image of an anatomical object on a display of a mobile computing device. Sensors of the mobile computing device are interrogated to determine an orientation, or a change in orientation, of the computing device. Transformations are determined for rotating and positioning the image of the anatomical object such that the image appears to be stationary after a change in the orientation of the mobile computing device. Additional image data associated with a surgical tool or a surgical plan may also be rendered on the device for planning and/or training simulations.