Surgical Needle Monitoring with Multi-Camera Loss Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to accurately track and monitor the location of surgical needles during surgical operations, making it difficult to determine when and where a needle is lost within the operating room.
Innovation Solution
A tool monitoring apparatus that uses multiple image capturing units to track surgical needles from extraction to housing, displaying their movement locus and alerting the worker to potential loss, with features like image recognition, trace data storage, and loss reporting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional tracking systems are used to count surgical needles, then the number of distributed and housed needles can be compared, but it is impossible to determine the specific location and time when a needle is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The operating room is divided into multiple image capture ranges by different image capturing units, each monitoring a specific area. This segmentation allows precise location tracking by determining which capturing unit detected the needle and where it was located within that unit's field of view.
Solution Approach 2:
Image data serves as an intermediary medium to track needle locations. The control unit acquires image data from multiple capturing units, processes this visual information to identify needle positions, and uses the traced movement paths to determine loss locations, thereby converting physical needle movement into detectable visual data.
2Reliability
If multiple image capturing units are deployed to track needle locations, then real-time monitoring and location identification are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple image capturing units are deployed to simultaneously monitor different areas of the operating room, serving multiple functions: tracking needle locations, identifying loss events, and providing spatial context. This multi-functional approach increases reliability while managing complexity through standardized monitoring units.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit continuously receives image data from multiple capturing units, processes this information to identify needle locations and movement paths, and provides feedback when loss is detected. This feedback loop enables real-time monitoring and automatic alerting, improving reliability through continuous verification.
3Loss of time
If continuous monitoring of needle movement is implemented, then early detection of needle loss is achieved, but data processing requirements and system resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously acquiring and storing image data from multiple capturing units before needle loss occurs. Movement paths are traced and stored in advance, enabling rapid analysis and early detection when loss events happen, reducing response time while managing processing resources through pre-positioned data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system processes image data selectively rather than analyzing every pixel continuously. By focusing processing on detecting needle presence, tracking movement paths, and identifying loss conditions, the system achieves early detection without excessive energy consumption, applying partial action only where needed for loss prevention.
Data Source
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AI summary
It is judged that a relevant tool is lost at a second time point after the elapse of a certain amount of time or longer after a first time point when it is judged that the tool is not recognized at all in images; and regarding the tool which is judged to have been lost, trace data corresponding to heads-up time, which is immediately before the first time point to immediately after the first time point, is read with reference to a corresponding identifier and a movement locus of the tool based on the trace data is displayed on a screen.