Shared Motion Interface for Heterogeneous Medical Device Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heterogeneous medical devices in operating rooms and interventional suites often lack interoperability, leading to inefficient data exchange and coordinated motion, as they are provided by different vendors and perform different tasks, resulting in limited functionality and increased operational complexity.
Innovation Solution
A system with a shared interface that enables movable devices to request and manage movement tokens, access configuration and kinematic data, and plan motions collaboratively, using services like token, blackboard, and publisher services to ensure coordinated and collision-free operations among devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If heterogeneous medical devices from different vendors are used to perform different tasks, then device functionality and task diversity are improved, but interoperability and coordinated motion capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal shared interface that enables heterogeneous medical devices to communicate and coordinate through a common protocol. This interface allows devices from different vendors to exchange motion plans, collision data, and operational status, providing multi-functional interoperability across diverse device types while maintaining each device's specialized capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a shared interface as an intermediary layer between heterogeneous devices. This mediator translates and standardizes communication between devices with different native protocols, enabling coordinated motion and collision avoidance without requiring direct device-to-device compatibility
2Productivity
If multiple autonomous and semiautonomous electronic devices are deployed in operating rooms, then operational efficiency and task capability are improved, but operational complexity and coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the coordination function into a shared interface that all devices access. By combining individual device autonomy with centralized coordination through the shared interface, the system manages multiple devices efficiently without proportionally increasing complexity at each device level
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments coordination responsibilities by device role (master vs. slave devices). Master devices initiate motion plans and coordinate overall operations, while slave devices execute plans and report status, dividing the coordination complexity across multiple levels rather than requiring full peer-to-peer management
3Extent of automation
If devices operate independently without standardized communication, then device autonomy is improved, but data exchange efficiency and coordinated operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The shared interface provides universal data exchange capabilities that work across all autonomous devices. Devices maintain their autonomy while using the standardized interface to exchange motion plans, collision information, and operational data efficiently, preventing information loss without sacrificing independence
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method of coordinated motion among heterogeneous devices includes a medical device with one or more movable elements and one or more processors. Any of the processors uses a shared interface to access services. The medical device requests a movement token from a token service through the shared interface, receive the movement token from the token service, exchange configuration data, kinematic data, or planned motion data through the shared interface, plan a first motion for a first movable element of the movable elements based on the movement token and the configuration data, the kinematic data, or the planned motion data, and execute the first motion. In some embodiments, the movement token is selected from a group consisting of an exclusive-motion token, a master follow-me token, a slave follow-me token, a master collision-avoidance token, a slave collision-avoidance token, and a passive collision-avoidance token.