Surgical Display Prioritization Using Instrument Situational Awareness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Surgical imaging systems often fail to recognize and convey crucial three-dimensional structural information and dimensions intraoperatively, leading to potential errors and inefficiencies in surgical procedures.

Innovation Solution

A medical instrument with situational awareness capabilities determines upcoming surgical tasks and prioritizes relevant display data, providing real-time error detection and correction instructions, such as cleaning, reloading, or repair, to enhance surgical efficiency and safety.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If surgical imaging systems display all available data, then information completeness is improved, but information prioritization and clarity deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation completenessVSAvoidinformation clarity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The display information is segmented into priority levels, with critical surgical data (e.g., actuator status, error conditions) displayed prominently while less critical information is secondary. This segmentation allows all information to be available without overwhelming the surgeon with undifferentiated data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system proactively determines upcoming surgical tasks based on contextual data and prioritizes display data accordingly before the surgeon needs it. This preliminary organization of information ensures that when the surgeon needs specific data, it is already prioritized and ready, improving both completeness and clarity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If the system proactively determines and displays data for upcoming surgical tasks, then surgical efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurgical efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The medical instrument performs self-service by automatically determining its own upcoming tasks based on contextual data from the surgical procedure, and autonomously prioritizing its own display data without requiring external control. This reduces the effective complexity burden on the overall system while maintaining high productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from contextual data (surgical procedure status, current tasks, error conditions) to dynamically adjust display prioritization. This feedback loop enables the system to proactively prepare relevant information without complex manual configuration, improving surgical efficiency while managing complexity through automated adaptation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If the system provides real-time error detection and correction instructions, then patient safety is improved, but information processing load increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepatient safetyVSAvoidinformation processing load
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts and isolates only the critical error conditions and correction instructions from the overall data stream, displaying them prominently while minimizing processing and display of non-critical information. This extraction approach maintains high patient safety through real-time error detection while reducing overall information processing load by focusing computational resources on essential safety-critical data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP4052267B1Shared situational awareness of the device actuator activity to prioritize certain aspects of displayed information
Publication Date: 2026.02.25 CILAG GMBH INTERNATIONAL
  • EP4052267B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4052267B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4052267B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A surgical hub for prioritizing data on a display using situational awareness of a medical instrument may be provided. A first surgical task that uses a medical instrument during a medical procedure may be determined based on a contextual data. A second surgical task that uses the medical instrument may be determined based on the first surgical task and the contextual data. A message may be sent that may instruct a display to prioritize a display data associated with the second surgical task.