Patient Support Interface Using Voice And Image Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional patient support systems have increasingly complex user interfaces that are difficult for users, especially caregivers unfamiliar with their operation, to navigate effectively, lacking adequate guidance tools and accessibility.
Innovation Solution
The patient support system incorporates a control system with a user interface that includes a touchscreen display and voice recognition, providing search functionality, pictorial representations of the apparatus, and shorthand commands to facilitate intuitive operation, allowing users to control operational functions through direct or indirect protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional user interfaces with panels of buttons are used to control patient support apparatus functions, then operational control is achieved, but the interface becomes increasingly difficult to operate for users unfamiliar with the system
Solution Approach 1:
A camera serves as an intermediary device to capture images of the patient support apparatus, and a processor acts as a mediator to compare these images with stored representations to identify and control functions. This intermediary system translates visual information into control commands, making the interface more intuitive and easier to operate without requiring users to memorize complex button functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy or representation of the physical patient support apparatus through image capture and processing. This virtual model allows users to interact with a simplified digital interface that mirrors the physical system, reducing the cognitive load associated with operating complex physical controls while maintaining full operational capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If advanced operational functions are integrated into the patient support apparatus, then system capability is improved, but the user interface becomes more difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic image processing and function identification without requiring manual configuration or complex user input. The processor automatically compares captured images with stored representations, identifies the appropriate functions, and presents control options to the user. This self-service approach handles the complexity internally while presenting a simplified interface to the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical button panels with an optical system using cameras and image processing. This substitution allows the system to capture complex visual information about the apparatus state and translate it into control commands, enabling advanced functionality to be accessed through intuitive visual cues rather than requiring users to navigate complex physical interfaces.
3Ease of operation
If guidance tools are added to help users operate the system, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera and image processing system serves multiple functions: it captures the apparatus state, identifies functions, provides visual guidance, and enables control. By making this core component multi-functional, the system provides comprehensive guidance and control capabilities without adding separate dedicated guidance devices, thereby minimizing the increase in overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support system for providing improved guidance tools with respect to a patient support apparatus. A user interface is configured to receive inputs from a user, and an information output device is configured to provide instructions to the user. The user interface and the information output device may be on a touchscreen display. The user inputs may include a search query. A controller may be adapted to determine search results corresponding to operational functions of the patient support apparatus responsive to the search query and to provide said search results to the user with the information output device. The user input may include shorthand commands corresponding to operational functions of the patient support apparatus. The user interface may include a voice actuation device configured to receive voice actuation commands from a user.