Sterile-Field Touchscreen Control via Surgical Hub Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical systems face challenges in efficiently controlling and coordinating surgical devices within a sterile field, particularly in transmitting input commands from an interactive touchscreen display to devices outside the sterile field while maintaining sterility and ensuring accurate control of medical instruments.
Innovation Solution
An interactive control unit with an interactive touchscreen display, processor, and memory is provided, enabling the transmission of input commands to a surgical hub to control devices outside the sterile field and receiving consult requests from other hubs, with the ability to power on or off medical instruments based on their status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an interactive touchscreen display is placed inside the sterile field for direct control, then ease of operation is improved, but risk of contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
A surgical hub acts as an intermediary device positioned outside the sterile field that receives commands from the touchscreen display and transmits control signals to surgical instruments. This mediator allows the surgical team to control devices without placing the touchscreen inside the sterile boundary, maintaining sterility while enabling ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system is segmented into separate functional components: the touchscreen display interface is separated from the surgical instruments, with the surgical hub serving as a communication bridge. This segmentation allows the display to remain outside the sterile field while instruments operate within it, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and contamination risk.
2Productivity
If multiple devices are coordinated through a centralized hub, then device coordination efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple surgical devices and instruments are merged into a single coordinated system through the surgical hub, which consolidates control functions. This centralization improves device coordination efficiency by managing multiple instruments through one interface, while the modular architecture keeps individual device complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical hub serves as a universal control platform that can interface with multiple different types of surgical instruments and devices. This multi-functionality allows diverse devices to be coordinated through a single system without requiring each device to have its own dedicated control system, improving efficiency while managing complexity through standardization.
Data Source
AI summary
An interactive control unit is disclosed. The interactive control unit includes an interactive touchscreen display, an interface configured to couple the control unit to a surgical hub, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to receive input commands from the interactive touchscreen display located inside a sterile field and transmit the input commands to the surgical hub to control devices coupled to the surgical hub located outside the sterile field.