Method and Device for Optical Alert Recognition

• US 20130207812A1
• Filed: 08/15/2011
• Published: 08/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Heydlauf, Michael
• Application Number:
  US13/816,973
• Publication Number:
  US 20130207812A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/691.6
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/00871 Communications between instruments or with remote terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0736 in functional embedded systems, i.e. in a data processing system designed as a combination of hardware and software dedicated to performing a certain function testing or monitoring of automated control systems G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0766 Error or fault reporting or storing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/327 Alarm or error message display
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/00 Visible signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems, remote indication of seats occupied

Abstract

A method for remotely displaying an error state of a controller or an assay testing instrument via a network. The method includes generating and transmitting display image data representing the operating status of the controller; receiving the display image data transmitted by the controller at a remote monitoring unit; displaying the display image data on a display device; comparing high resolution display image data to alert (error) image data stored in a database; and generating an error alert message indicative of the error state when any of the display images matches one of the error alert image.

Claims

1. A method for remotely displaying an error state existing in at least one of a plurality of controllers, each controller being adapted to generate and to transmit display image data representing a status of the controller, the method comprising:

receiving the display image data transmitted by each of the plurality of controllers at a remote monitoring unit;

displaying the display image data transmitted by each of the plurality of controllers on a display device of the remote monitoring unit;

comparing the high resolution data corresponding to the display image data to high resolution data of at least one error alert image stored in a database therefor; and

transmitting an error alert message indicative of an error state at a discrete controller to the remote monitoring unit when any of said high resolution data corresponding to the display image data matches one of the at least one error alert image.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the display images displayed on the display device of the remote monitoring unit are displayed as thumbnail images.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising displaying the error alert message on the display device of the remote monitoring unit.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the error alert message is displayed as a static or a dynamic alert flag or message window that is coupled to an image of the discrete controller on the display device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the error alert message includes at least one of a visual alert, an auditory alert, and an electronic message alert.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising, when none of the display images matches any of the at least one error alert image:

determining whether or not a discrete display image of said transmitted display image data denotes an error state in the respective controller;

creating a new error alert image, whose high resolution image data are identical or substantially identical to the display image data corresponding to the discrete display image that denote an error state; and

storing the high resolution new error alert image data in the database therefor.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein creating the new error alert image includes designating a first comparison region within the discrete display image.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein creating the new error alert image includes designating a second comparison region within the first comparison region.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 further comprising performing optical character recognition of the second comparison region.

10. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein creating the new error alert image includes displaying instructions to resolve the error state at the discrete controller.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 further comprising providing an escalated error alert message if a user does not acknowledge receipt of the corresponding error alert message or does not resolve the respective error state at the discrete controller within a pre-determined period of time.

12. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein each new error alert image is sortable according to the respective controller on which said new error alert image occurred.

13. A machine-readable medium that is executable on a processing machine, the medium being structured and arranged to execute the method as recited in claim 1.

14. The machine-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the medium is selected from the group comprising solid-state memories, optical and magnetic disks, electrical signal representing information or electromagnetic signal representing information.

15. A system for remotely monitoring an operating status of each of a plurality of controllers, the system comprising:

a plurality of controllers, each controller adapted to generate and to locally display images of its operating status or of an operating status of a respective assay testing instrument and to transmit to a remote location in real-time or pseudo-real-time display image data representing the operating status of the respective controller;

a remote monitoring unit that is in communication with each controller, the remote monitoring unit including

a processing unit that is adapted to receive the real-time or pseudo-real-time display image data from the plurality of controllers,

a display device for displaying the transmitted display image data on the display device, and

a comparator for comparing said high resolution display image data to high resolution error alert image data corresponding to at least one error alert image stored in a database therefor,

wherein the processing unit creates an error alert message indicative of an error state at a discrete controller and causes the display device to display the error alert message when any of said high resolution display image data matches any of the high resolution error alert image data.

16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the processing unit is adapted to display the error alert message on the display device.

17. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the error alert message includes at least one of a visual alert, an auditory alert, and an electronic message alert.

18. The system as recited in claim 15 further comprising:

means for creating new error alert image data that are identical or substantially identical to the discrete display image data for each of the display images that denotes an error state; and

memory for storing the new error alert image data in the database therefor.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the new error alert image data includes at least one of:

a first comparison region within the discrete display image; and

a second comparison region within the first comparison region, for performing optical character recognition of the second comparison region.

20. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the controller communicates with the processing unit of the remote monitoring unit using remote frame buffer (RFB) protocol.

21. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the error alert message is at least one of an alert flag image, a pop-up window message, a visual message, an auditory message, and an electronic text message.