Surgical Needle Flow Monitoring With Optical Tracking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical practices lack effective methods for monitoring and managing the flow of surgical objects, such as needles, within the surgical space during a surgery, leading to inefficiencies and risks related to sterility, contamination, and staff safety.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing computer vision techniques to track and characterize the flow of surgical objects like needles through a surgical space by analyzing images from optical sensors, logging their conditions and locations, and deriving real-time insights to enhance efficiency and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual tracking of surgical needles is performed, then surgical staff can monitor needle locations, but the risk of contamination and injury increases due to human error and lack of real-time monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical tracking methods with an automated optical sensing system. Optical sensors capture images of the surgical space, and computer vision algorithms automatically detect and track needle locations, eliminating the need for manual visual monitoring by surgical staff. This substitution reduces human error and the associated contamination and injury risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous real-time feedback by continuously monitoring the surgical space with optical sensors and providing updated needle location information. The computer vision system processes sequential images to track needle movement and provides immediate feedback on needle positions, allowing for proactive management and reducing the risk of retained needles or contamination.
2Measurement precision
If automated optical sensing systems are implemented to monitor surgical objects, then real-time tracking accuracy improves, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The optical sensing system is designed to perform multiple functions: capturing images of the surgical space, detecting various surgical objects (needles, instruments, sponges), tracking their movements, and providing real-time location information. By making the system universal and multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate specialized devices, thereby managing complexity while maintaining high detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses optical copying by capturing images of the surgical space and creating digital representations of needle and instrument locations. Instead of physically interacting with or directly measuring needle positions, the system creates visual copies through imaging and processes these copies computationally to determine locations, simplifying the physical measurement process while maintaining precision.
3Productivity
If continuous monitoring of all surgical objects is performed, then safety and efficiency improve, but the time and computational resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different monitoring intensities to different regions of the surgical space based on their importance and risk levels. Areas with higher risk of retained foreign objects or contamination receive more intensive monitoring and analysis, while lower-risk areas receive standard monitoring. This localized approach to quality control optimizes resource allocation and reduces unnecessary processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The computer vision system processes only the most critical information from captured images, such as needle locations and movements, rather than analyzing every detail of the surgical scene. By focusing on partial but essential information, the system achieves effective monitoring without the computational overhead of complete scene analysis, reducing processing time while maintaining safety.
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 real-time monitoring and management of surgical objects, reducing contamination risks, improving surgical efficiency, and enhancing staff safety by providing inter-operative insights and predictive analytics.
Implementation Method 1
accessing a sequence of images of a surgical space captured by a set of optical sensors arranged in the surgical space
Data Source
AI summary
One variation of a method for monitoring needle consumption in a surgical space during a surgery includes: accessing a sequence of images captured by a camera facing an inventory field within the surgical space; scanning the sequence of images for needle packages and needles; in response to detecting entry of a needle package into the surgical space in a first image, logging entry of the needle package, labeled as sterile, into the inventory field at a first time and incrementing a sterile packaged needle counter for the needle package according to a first quantity of sterile needles associated with a type of the needle package; and, in response to detecting removal of a first needle from the inventory field in a second image, incrementing a deployed needle counter at a second time succeeding the first time and decrementing the sterile packaged needle counter.