MRI Patient Table Dual-Operating System for Collision Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures during surgeries, such as minimally invasive procedures, pose safety risks due to the small patient-receiving area, where medical devices can collide with the inner walls or become entangled, relying on user attentiveness for emergency stop mechanisms which may be inadequate, especially when the patient table is moving quickly.
Innovation Solution
A dual-operating system for the patient table in MRI facilities, combining an electronic touch screen for setting control parameters over an insecure communication channel with a mechanical button for triggering movements via two logically separated, redundant communication channels, ensuring safe operation by requiring matching signals for movement initiation and cessation, thereby enhancing safety through redundancy and physical separation of communication paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single emergency stop button is provided on the main magnet unit, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of patient table movement control deteriorates due to reliance on user reaction time
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency stop function is segmented into multiple independent components: a first emergency stop button on the main magnet unit and a second emergency stop button on the patient table. Each button has its own independent communication channel to the control unit, ensuring that failure of one does not compromise safety. This segmentation maintains reliability while distributing the complexity across multiple simple components rather than a single complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary that receives signals from multiple emergency stop buttons through separate communication channels. It processes these signals independently and only allows table movement when both channels confirm the emergency stop condition, mediating between the simple button inputs and the complex safety logic required for reliable patient table control.
2Productivity
If the patient table moves quickly to improve productivity, then the productivity increases, but the reliability of operation deteriorates due to increased risk of collisions and entanglements in the small patient-receiving area
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback through redundant communication channels that monitor the emergency stop condition from multiple locations (main magnet unit and patient table). The control unit receives real-time signals from both channels and only permits table movement when both confirm safety, providing continuous feedback that maintains reliability even during high-speed operation in the confined patient-receiving area.
Solution Approach 2:
The dual emergency stop button system provides beforehand cushioning by establishing safety monitoring before any movement occurs. Both emergency stop buttons must be activated simultaneously through separate communication channels to trigger a stop, creating a safety buffer that prevents collisions and entanglements before they can occur during high-speed table movement in the small patient-receiving area.
3Reliability
If redundant communication channels are implemented to enhance safety, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity and communication channel requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The communication system is segmented into distinct independent channels: a first communication channel from the main magnet unit emergency stop button and a second communication channel from the patient table emergency stop button. Each channel operates independently with its own signal path to the control unit, ensuring that redundancy is achieved through segmentation rather than complex multi-channel processing, thus improving reliability while keeping the complexity increase manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for operating a magnetic resonance facility is provided herein. The facility has a main magnet unit with a patient-receiving area, a movable, controllable patient table for positioning a patient in the patient-receiving area, a table control unit for controlling the patient table, and, on the main magnet unit, an operating facility that communicates with the table control unit, for operation of the patient table by a user. The operating facility has a first, electronic operating device for setting control parameters for a movement of the patient table to be performed, and a second, mechanical operating device for triggering the movement. In a safe operating mode, control parameters that have been set are communicated from the first operating device to the table control unit over a first communication channel, and a trigger signal, suitable for triggering the movement defined by the control parameters, is communicated from the second operating device, over two redundant second communication channels that are at least logically separated, to the table control unit, and processed separately there, wherein the movement is only triggered when there is a match between the trigger signal received over the two communication channels.