AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF A MEDICAL DEVICE

• US 20110026678A1
• Filed: 10/08/2010
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: FERNANDEZ GUERRERO, Manuel, BONFIGLIO, Silvio, KRAMER, Joost, MARTEGANI, Franco
• Granted Patent: US 8,085,902 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/114
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00216 with eye tracking or head position tracking control
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/00 Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis; Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis combined with radiation therapy equipment instruments measuring radiation intensity for application in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting, G01T1/161; apparatus for taking X-ray photographs G03B42/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/467 characterised by special input means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/469 for selecting a region of interest [ROI]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/30 Devices for illuminating a surgical field, the devices having an interrelation with other surgical devices or with a surgical procedure
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

System and method for automatic control of processes or application, such as the activation or deactivation of a radiation source for medical purposes. The system comprises an operator tracking system arranged to determine the gesture/posture of a user, an evaluation device arranged to evaluate the determined gesture/posture, and an enabling device arranged to enable and disable the radiation source in response to an output of the evaluation device. The operator tracking system may use a gazing direction analysis that may be based on the output of an eye tracking system, or an emitter-receiver arrangement for a directed signal.

Claims

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24. System for automatic control by gazing, of processes or applications which require visual attention or monitoring, the said processes or applications being of the type which require activation or control of certain elements or stages by means of an electric control unit, only when monitoring is being carried out;

characterised in that it comprises an emitter for a directed signal of a suitable nature which is designed to be picked up by a suitable receiver, when the head of the observer of the system is positioned such that his eyes face a point of reference, the receiver of the said signal being associated with control electronics which form part of the electric control unit which controls the activation or deactivation of the application or process.

25. System according to claim 24, characterised in that the point of reference is located in a monitor which displays the process.

26. System according to claim 24, characterised in that the point of reference is located in some indicators which show parameters of the process.

27. System according to claim 24, characterised in that the point of reference is situated directly in the location of the process.

28. System according to claim 24, characterised in that the signal emitted by the emitter is of an infrared nature.

29. System according to claim 24, characterised in that the signal emitted by the emitter is of an ultrasonic nature.

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39. System for automatic controlling at least one function of at least one medical device, the system comprising an operator tracking system arranged to determine the posture of an operator of the medical device, an evaluation device arranged to determine whether the determined posture and/or posture indicates that the operator exploits said function of said medical device, and a control device arranged to control the function of the medical device.

40. System according to claim 39, wherein the evaluation device is further arranged to determine whether the posture of the operator indicates that the operator observes a predetermined observation region.

41. System according to claim 39, wherein the medical device is a radiation emitting medical device.

42. System according to claim 40, wherein the predetermined observation region is located in a monitor displaying data relating to the medical device.

43. System according to claim 40, wherein the predetermined observation region is located at the target site of the medical device.

44. System according to claim 40, wherein the observation region comprises a plurality of sub regions, each sub region being associated with the control of a specific function of the at least one medical device.

45. System according to claim 39, further comprising an operator command input device and a signal combination device arranged to combine the respective output signals of the evaluation device and the operator command input device.

46. System according to claim 39, wherein said operator tracking system is or comprises an eye tracking system chosen from a group comprising coil systems, Dual Purkinje systems, Corneal reflection, pupil boundary, and video based systems.

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51. A system for controlling one or more functions of one or more medical devices, the system comprising:

an operator tracking unit arranged to track the eyes of the operator;

an evaluation device arranged to evaluate the determined eye tracking; and

a control device arranged to control the function of the medical device.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the operator tracking unit is an eye tracking unit selected from the group of coil systems, Dual Purkinje systems, Corneal reflection systems, pupil boundary systems, and video based systems.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the evaluation device is a computer programmed to receive the determined eye tracking and evaluate the eye direction of the operator.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein the controlling of the function of the medical device is that the control device automatically activates or deactivates a radiation source of the medical device based on the evaluation of the determined eye tracking.

55. The system of claim 51, further comprising that the controlling of the function of the medical device is done in combination with voice command.

56. The system of claim 51, wherein the control device controls other devices in synchronization with the function of the medical device.

57. The system of claim 51, wherein the medical device is a diagnostic or therapeutic device.