Reusable Camera Tube for Wireless Medical Device Visualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices lack continuous visualization and mobility after placement in patients, and existing solutions are costly due to disposable cameras and limited transferability between devices, making remote monitoring of adverse reactions challenging, especially in emergency or high-pressure situations.
Innovation Solution
A portable universal visualization device with a reusable camera in a sealed camera tube that transmits images wirelessly, allowing real-time monitoring of internal organs and compatible with various medical devices without the need for sterilization, enabling remote access and multiple device compatibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If disposable cameras are used in medical devices, then continuous visualization is provided, but cost increases and transferability between devices is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The camera system is segmented into a reusable camera unit and a disposable camera tube. The camera unit can be transferred between different medical devices, while the camera tube is discarded after single use. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining continuous visualization through the reusable camera while enabling transferability through the modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera tube is designed for single use and is discarded after providing continuous visualization, while the camera unit is recovered and reused across multiple devices. This principle allows the system to maintain continuous visualization capability while achieving cost-effectiveness and transferability through the reusable camera component.
2Reliability
If disposable cameras are used in medical devices, then continuous visualization is provided, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into a reusable camera unit and a disposable camera tube. This segmentation allows the expensive camera unit to be manufactured once and reused multiple times, while only the inexpensive camera tube is disposable. This significantly reduces overall cost while maintaining continuous visualization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera tube is discarded after single use, but the camera unit is recovered and reused across multiple devices and patients. This principle transforms a high-cost disposable system into a cost-effective reusable system, maintaining continuous visualization while dramatically reducing overall cost through the recovered camera component.
3Reliability
If camera contacts patient tissues, then visualization is achieved, but sterilization is required
Solution Approach 1:
The camera tube acts as an intermediary barrier between the camera and patient tissues. The camera remains outside the patient's body, positioned at the distal end of the tube, while the tube transmits images through its transparent material. This intermediary structure eliminates the need for camera sterilization while maintaining visualization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera is extracted from direct contact with patient tissues and positioned at the distal end of the camera tube, separated from the patient's body. This extraction eliminates the sterilization requirement for the camera while preserving the ability to visualize internal structures through the transparent tube wall.
4Reliability
If proprietary reusable camera is used in one device, then continuous visualization is provided, but transferability to other devices is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The camera unit is designed with universal compatibility to work with multiple different medical devices through standardized interfaces. This universality allows the same reusable camera to provide continuous visualization across various devices, resolving the contradiction between maintaining continuous visualization and achieving device compatibility.
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 rapid and accurate placement of medical devices with continuous real-time monitoring of patients, reducing the risk of adverse reactions and improving patient care in emergency settings through cost-effective, reusable, and versatile visualization technology.
Implementation Method 1
The camera can transmit images to a remote location wirelessly
Implementation Method 2
In some embodiments, the camera tube comprises a fiber optic material
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides improved medical devices equipped with a visualization device for intubation, ventilation, drug delivery, feeding and continuous remote monitoring of a patient. The present invention also provides methods for rapid and accurate placement of a medical device in a patient and continuous real time monitoring, including a remote monitoring, of the patient after the placement.