Medical simulator system and medical simulator notifying apparatus

• US 6,126,450 A
• Filed: 02/03/1999
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Harada, Masayuki, Mukai, Nobuhiko, Muroi, Katsunobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Application Number:
  US09/243,806
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 434/118, 434/256, 434/262, 434/270, 434/271, 434/307 R, 434/308, 434/309, 434/365, 434/268, 434/272, 434/267, 340/407.1, 345/473, 600/587, 600/109, 600/443, 600/921, 600/101, 600/118, 600/424, 600/427, 600/130, 606/1, 606/45, 606/174, 128/916, 128/653.1, 348/58, 348/78, 703/6
• US Class Current: 434/262
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/28 for medicine

Abstract

In a medical simulator system, a physical model such as a medical phantom is no longer required so as to execute a simulated medical treatment. The medical simulator system is arranged by storage means for storing thereinto virtual model information and medical information, the virtual model information virtually constituting one of a portion of a human body, an entire human body, a portion of an animal, and an overall animal, whereas the medical information being directed to a medical treatment selected from an operation, an examination, and an experiment; a simulated medical instrument made by simulating a medical instrument used in the medical treatment; control means for controlling a condition of a simulated medical treatment which is virtually carried out by using the simulated medical instrument while using the virtual model information and the medical information stored in the storage means with respect to the simulated medical treatment virtually executed by the operator; and notifying means for notifying information acquired by the control means to the operator.

Claims

1. A medical simulator system comprising:

storage means for storing thereinto virtual model information and medical information, said virtual model information virtually constituting one of a portion of a human body, an entire human body, a portion of an animal, and an overall animal, whereas said medical information being directed to a medical treatment selected from an operation, an examination, and an experiment;

a simulated medical instrument made by simulating a medical instrument used in said medical treatment;

control means for controlling a condition of a simulated medical treatment which is virtually carried out by an operator by using said simulated medical instrument while using said virtual model information and said medical information stored in said storage means with respect to said simulated medical treatment virtually executed by the operator; and

notifying means for notifying information acquired by said control means to said operator.

2. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said control means executes a contact detection between said virtual model information and said simulated medical instrument to thereby realize the simulated medical treatment in accordance with the result of said contact detection and said medical information.

3. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said information stored in said storage means is constructed of;

three-dimensional graphical shape information of one of the human body and the animal, which virtually constitutes one of a partial shape of said human body, an overall shape thereof, a partial shape of said animal, and an overall shape thereof by using three-dimensional graphics;

three-dimensional graphical shape information of the simulated medical instrument, which virtually constitutes a shape of said simulated medical instrument by using three-dimensional graphics; and

condition change information for describing both symptom information and a change in symptom;

said symptom information describing symptom of one of said human body and said animal, which are treated as to said simulated medical treatment; and

said change in the symptom occurring in the case that the simulated medical treatment is carried out with respect to one of said human body and said animal, which are treated as to said simulated medical treatment.

4. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a simulation operation selector for selecting a desired simulated medical treatment from a plurality of virtual simulated medical treatments.

5. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said notifying means is a display means for performing a visual sense feedback.

6. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 5 wherein:

said display means is constituted by a plurality of display means.

7. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said notifying means is a tactile sense representing means for performing a tactile sense feedback.

8. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 7 wherein:

said tactile sense representing means is constituted by a plurality of tactile sense representing means.

9. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said notifying means is speech output means for performing a hearing feedback.

10. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 9 wherein:

said speech output means is constituted by a plurality of speech output means.

11. The medical simulator system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said simulated medical instrument is constituted by plural sets of simulated medical instruments corresponding to a plurality of operators.

12. A medical simulator notifying apparatus comprising:

storage means for storing thereinto virtual model information and medical information, said virtual model information virtually constituting one of a portion of a human body, an entire human body, a portion of an animal, and an overall animal, whereas said medical information being directed to a medical treatment selected from an operation, an examination, and an experiment;

a simulated medical instrument made by simulating a medical instrument used in said medical treatment;

control means for controlling a condition of a simulated medical treatment which is virtually carried out by an operator by using said simulated medical instrument while using said virtual model information and said medical information stored in said storage means with respect to said simulated medical treatment virtually executed by the operator; and

notifying means for adding additional value information to information acquired by said control means to notify the resultant information to said operator.

13. The medical simulator notifying apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein said notifying means includes:

simulated condition notifying means for notifying a condition of a medical treatment to be simulated to the operator in correspondence with an actual condition; and

additional information notifying means for displaying additional information capable of helping one of a training, a learning, and an experiment of the simulated medical treatment, which does not correspond to the actual condition.

14. The medical simulator notifying apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein:

said additional information notifying means is guideline notifying means for notifying a guideline for said simulated medical treatment which helps one of the training, the learning, and the experiment in said simulated medical treatment.

15. The medical simulator notifying apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein:

said additional information notifying means is risk predicting information notifying means for notifying a risky condition in one of the training, the learning, and the experiment in said simulated medical treatment.

16. The medical simulator notifying apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein:

said additional information notifying means is simulation time notifying means for notifying time spent to execute said simulated medical treatment.

17. The medical simulator notifying apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein:

said additional information notifying means is evaluated result notifying means for notifying an evaluated result of said simulated medical treatment so as to help an own evaluation and/or an evaluation of another person as to one of the training, the learning, and the experiment of said simulated medical treatment.