Sterile Container for Unsterilized Input Devices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Computer input devices, such as keyboards and mice, pose challenges in maintaining a sterile environment in operating rooms due to the difficulty in sterilizing them, which is essential for preventing infection during surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A sterile container system that allows for the positioning and movement of unsterilized human input devices into a sterile field by maintaining a sterile exterior and creating a seal around the device, enabling its use within a sterile environment without compromising sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a human input device is placed in a sterile field, then precise control during surgical procedures is improved, but the risk of contamination increases because the device cannot be sterilized
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the operational space into a sterile field and a non-sterile field. The container acts as a barrier that segments these two environments, allowing the input device to remain in the non-sterile field while enabling the user to interact with it from the sterile field without compromising sterility.
Solution Approach 2:
The container serves as an intermediary barrier between the sterile surgical field and the non-sterile input device. It allows tactile interaction and control signals to pass through while preventing contamination, thus mediating between the conflicting requirements of device accessibility and sterile field maintenance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the input device is kept outside the sterile field, then contamination risk is reduced, but the ability to provide precise control during procedures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container introduces a new spatial dimension (a barrier layer) between the sterile field and the input device. This additional dimensional layer allows the system to maintain spatial separation for contamination prevention while still enabling functional interaction through the container wall.
3Reliability
If the container is made completely sealed, then sterility maintenance is improved, but the ease of accessing and using the input device deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container wall has different properties at different locations: it is impermeable to contaminants throughout most of its surface to maintain sterility, but has localized interaction points (such as tactile-responsive areas) that allow controlled access for input device manipulation without compromising overall seal integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for providing an unsterilized item to a sterile field is disclosed. The item can include a human input device. The sterile field can be in an operating room.