Ultrasound Virtual Controls for Intuitive Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing ultrasound imaging system user interface, with a touch screen and display monitor arrangement, complicates operations as users need to look away from the image or patient to locate and operate touch-sensitive controls, leading to inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where a processor in the ultrasound imaging system identifies and visually displays graphic representations of touch controls on the display monitor, allowing users to operate controls intuitively without looking away, by rendering virtual graphical controls in response to touch control activations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the user interface is placed horizontally separate from the display monitor, then the controls can be physically accessible, but the user must look away from the image to operate controls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the user interface controls with the display monitor by projecting virtual control elements directly onto the display surface. This integration allows users to access controls without diverting their gaze from the medical image, eliminating the need to look between separate control panels and the display. The controls are superimposed on the display region, creating a unified interface that maintains both visual focus and control accessibility.
2Device complexity
If a flat touch screen surface is used, then the device structure is simplified, but the user has difficulty locating and operating touch-sensitive controls while observing the image
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of physical control elements by rendering graphical representations of controls directly on the display monitor. These virtual control elements replicate the appearance and function of traditional controls but are displayed optically on the screen surface. This allows users to locate and operate controls through visual observation without requiring physical manipulation of separate control panels, maintaining structural simplicity while improving operational ease.
3Ease of operation
If the display monitor is placed in upright vertical position, then the image is easily observable, but the user interface must be positioned separately causing operational inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the user interface and display monitor into a single integrated unit by projecting controls onto the display surface. This merger eliminates the need for separate control panels positioned at different orientations, allowing the display to remain in the optimal upright vertical position for image observation while controls are accessible through the same display surface. The integration reduces structural complexity by eliminating separate mounting requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving, at a console (132) of an ultrasound imaging system (102), a first signal indicative of actuation of a touch control (128) of a touch screen user interface (122) of the ultrasound imaging system, wherein the touch control is one of a plurality of different touch controls of the ultrasound imaging system. The method further includes identifying, with a processor of the ultrasound imaging system, the touch control from the plurality of different touch controls based on the first signal. The method further includes identifying, with the processor of the ultrasound imaging system, a graphic representation of the touch control based on the identification of the touch control. The method further includes visually displaying, with the processor of the ultrasound imaging system, the graphic representation on a display monitor concurrently with displaying an image.