Context-related troubleshooting

• US 8,418,001 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2007
• Issued: 04/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Knrl, Roland, Amon, Franz
• Primary Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): Butler, Sarai
• Application Number:
  US11/937,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20090125757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,979 Days
• Field of Search: 714/46, 714/25, 714/48, 714/2, 714/31, 714/47.1
• US Class Current: 714/47.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/327 Alarm or error message display

Abstract

A system and method provide system monitoring and detailed troubleshooting workflow guidance. Individual system components may be monitored and faulty system components identified. Subsequently, component-related, context-related, and/or user-specific troubleshooting workflow guidance associated with the faulty system component identified may be retrieved and/or determined by a processor and presented. The component-related guidance may be based upon which system component is faulty. The context-related guidance may be based upon the type of error with the faulty system component. The user-specific guidance may be based upon information specific to the user, such as user specifications, preferences, and configurations. The troubleshooting guidance may provide virtual guidance related to the workflow steps to be performed to identify the error with the faulty component and then correct the error identified. Accordingly, consistent, reproducible, and efficient troubleshooting may be performed using the troubleshooting workflow guidance presented. In one embodiment, the system monitored is a medical imaging system.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a system and presenting troubleshooting guidance, the method comprising:

automatically monitoring system components of the system for faults using software, the software identifying a faulty system component; and

presenting component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance associated with troubleshooting the faulty system component identified, the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance including guidance that (1) is identified and/or retrieved by a processor based upon the faulty system component identified and (2) directs a number of workflow steps to be manually performed to troubleshoot the faulty system component and identify an error associated with the faulty system component, wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes guidance that is automatically selected by the processor based upon user specific information, and

wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance further includes guidance that directs a number of workflow steps to be manually performed to identify a faulty part of the faulty system component, replace the faulty part, and test the system and the faulty component after the faulty part has been identified and replaced; and

automatically modifying one or more of the number of workflow steps based upon conditions of the system or the system components, wherein the conditions include temperatures, voltages, and currents.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance presented includes information regarding an implementation of a component-specific analysis tool to facilitate identification of the error associated with the faulty system component.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance presented includes graphical representations of the workflow steps to be performed to troubleshoot the faulty system component.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes audio and video guidance regarding a performance of the workflow steps to be performed to troubleshoot the faulty system component.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the component-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes guidance that is automatically selected by the processor based upon a type of error identified with the faulty system component and directs correction of the type of error identified.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the system monitored for faulty system components is a medical imaging system.

7. A method of monitoring a system and presenting troubleshooting guidance, the method comprising:

automatically monitoring system components of the system for faults using software, the software identifying a faulty system component;

identifying a type of error associated with the faulty system component via a processor;

presenting context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance associated with correction of the faulty system component that is specific to the type of error identified, the context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance including guidance that is (1) retrieved and/or identified by the processor and (2) related to a number of workflow steps to be manually performed to correct the type of error identified associated with the faulty system component; and

automatically modifying one or more of the number of workflow steps based upon conditions of the system or the system components, wherein the conditions include temperatures, voltages, and currents.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes guidance based upon a type of faulty system component identified.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes graphical representations of the workflow steps to be manually performed to correct the type of error identified.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance includes audio and video guidance directing a performance of the workflow steps to be manually performed to correct the type of error identified.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the system monitored for faulty system components is a medical imaging system.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the context-related troubleshooting workflow guidance further includes guidance related to a number of workflow steps to be manually performed to test the system and the faulty system component after the identified error has been corrected.

13. A data processing system for monitoring a system and presenting troubleshooting guidance, the system comprising:

a memory unit operable to store virtual representations of workflow steps associated with troubleshooting a faulty system component, the workflow steps provide guidance (1) to manually identify a type of error with the faulty system component and (2) manually correct the error once identified; and

a processing unit operable to monitor the system and identify the faulty system component within the system, and present the virtual representations of the workflow steps associated with manually troubleshooting the faulty system component on a display,

wherein the processing unit is further operable to automatically modify the virtual representations of the workflow steps based upon conditions of the system or system components, and

wherein the conditions include temperatures, voltages, and currents.

14. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein the virtual representations include audio and video instructions that facilitate the identification of the type of error and the correction of the error once identified.

15. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein the processing unit alters which of the virtual representations of the workflow steps are presented based upon user specific information.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions executable on a computer stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

monitoring system components associated with a user system;

identifying a faulty system component;

presenting user-specific troubleshooting workflow guidance that includes virtual guidance that guides manual performance of a number of workflow steps associated with correcting the faulty system component, the user-specific troubleshooting workflow guidance being selected based upon user specific information, wherein the user-specific troubleshooting workflow guidance further includes guidance that directs identification of a faulty part of the faulty system component, replacement of the faulty part, and testing of the system and the faulty component after the faulty part has been identified and replaced; and

automatically modifying one or more of the number of workflow steps based upon conditions of the user system or the system components,

wherein the conditions include temperatures, voltages, and currents.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, the instructions comprising selecting the user-specific troubleshooting workflow guidance based upon a type of the user system and/or a type of faulty part identified.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the user system associated with the system components monitored is a medical imaging system.