Trustworthy Component for MRI Control Path Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Magnetic resonance apparatuses face challenges in ensuring patient safety due to potential risks from strong gradient fields and radio frequency power levels, especially with implants that can locally concentrate these fields, leading to unintended field strengths within the patient's body.
Innovation Solution
A trustworthy component is introduced into the control path of the magnetic resonance apparatus, which ensures that control information processed in the path has predetermined properties, thereby preventing harmful conditions such as excessive gradient field strengths or radio frequency power levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If functionally safe architectures are implemented with trustworthy control paths, then patient safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control path is segmented into a trustworthy control path and a non-trustworthy control path. The trustworthy control path is specifically designed and controlled to ensure functional safety, while other portions can be developed more flexibly. This segmentation allows safety-critical functions to be isolated and verified without requiring the entire system to meet the same stringent requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
A formally verified software component acts as an intermediary between the non-trustworthy control path and the safety-critical operations. This intermediary component receives control information, verifies it against safety constraints through formal verification, and only allows safe operations to proceed. This mediator approach enables integration of complex control logic while maintaining safety boundaries.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional development processes are used for control paths, then ease of manufacture is improved, but functional safety cannot be guaranteed
Solution Approach 1:
Safety constraints and requirements are defined preliminarily before the actual control path development. Formal specifications of safety properties are established in advance, and the trustworthy control path is designed to adhere to these pre-defined constraints. This preliminary definition of safety requirements enables subsequent development to proceed more smoothly while ensuring safety is built-in from the start.
Solution Approach 2:
Traditional testing and verification methods are replaced with formal verification techniques. Instead of relying on empirical testing after development, the patent uses mathematical proofs and formal methods to verify that the control path satisfies safety properties by construction. This substitution of verification methodology enables both safety guarantee and easier manufacturing through automated verification tools.
3Reliability
If the control path is made entirely trustworthy, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and development effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The trustworthy properties are applied locally only to the specific portions of the control path that are safety-critical, rather than requiring the entire control path to be trustworthy. The patent identifies and isolates safety-relevant functions and applies formal verification only to those segments. This local application of quality requirements reduces overall system complexity while maintaining necessary safety guarantees.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire control path trustworthy, the patent applies partial trustworthiness only where necessary for safety. The trustworthy control path handles only the safety-critical control information, while other non-critical portions can use conventional development approaches. This partial application of stringent requirements avoids unnecessary complexity in non-essential areas.
Data Source
AI summary
A trustworthy component for a control path of a magnetic resonance apparatus and a magnetic resonance apparatus with at least one trustworthy component are provided. The trustworthy component is configured to be arranged in a control path of a safety-relevant function of a magnetic resonance apparatus, so that when the trustworthy component is arranged in the control path, the control path is, at least in parts, non-trustworthy.