Patent Application
20090143664
The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date of DE 10 2007 057 286.9, filed Nov. 28, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present embodiments may relate to a medical device, a component for a medical device and a method of identifying a component attached to a medical device.
In medical technology, interchangeable and/or replaceable components are used in various devices in order to guarantee an adjustment for an examination or treatment to be performed. The various devices may include, for example, recording disks or detectors for x-ray images, for which different formats are conventional depending on the recording to be performed. However, replaceable components are also used for an adjustment of the medical device to match patient characteristics for example, in mammography.
When a mammogram is performed, a compression plate is generally provided for the compression of a female breast. A rigid, inflexible compression plate is used to compress the female breast for mammography. Compression plates of this kind are frequently made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
Compression of the breast during mammography reduces the thickness of the breast tissue to be x-rayed, which may reduce scattered radiation. Additionally, the breast is distanced from the thorax for the examination, such that an examination can be performed close to the surface of the breast.
The compression of the breast is achieved by the compression device, including the rigid compression plate, being displaced relative to a support couch (table) on which the object to be examined and/or compressed is positioned. The compression of the breast and/or of the object by a rigid compression plate, for example, during a mammogram, generally does not lead to the anatomy of the female breast, which varies from patient to patient, being taken into consideration flexibly. Accordingly, the compression of the breast by a rigid compression plate generally leads to pain being caused in the patient's breast. Damage to an object to be compressed is also conceivable.
An optimally adjusted compression plate for each specific patient may be selected and made available from among a large number of different-shaped rigid compression plates that are adjusted to match different sizes and shapes of female breasts.
The mammogram used in mammography is detected automatically. The detection can be used to verify the attached compression plate and for adjustment of the configuration of the mammography device according to the characteristics of the plate. Accordingly, different compression plates are conventionally encoded with contact bridges or storage elements, with the encoding being readable via contact pins.
The present embodiments may obviate one or more of the problems or drawbacks inherent in the related art. For example, in one embodiment, components that may be attached to medical devices may be identified.
The present embodiments relate to medical devices for which provision is made for an alternative attachment (e.g. insertion) of several components. For example, different types of compression plates may be inserted and/or plugged into a mammography device. Alternatively, an apparatus may receive different formats of x-ray plates, catapult Bucky cabinets, or x-ray detectors. The different alternative components are each provided for an examination or treatment and are realized according to the examination and/or treatment. The use of different alternative components may be necessary because of patient characteristics (e.g., height, weight, and body shape, such as female mamma) and different applications of the device (e.g. various formats of a receiving unit for receiving different body parts). The term “alternative” here means that the various components are attached at the same position on the device, which is realized for receiving one of the alternative components.
The medical device may be used for the emission of an infrared signal for a reflection by an attached component. The medical device may include several infrared reflection sensors for detecting the signal reflected by the attached component.
The signal is reflected by a reflecting area of the component. Through individualized design of the reflecting area, the shape and/or the pattern of the reflected signal is typical and/or characteristic of the component. The component may be identified through detection by the plurality of infrared reflection sensors and through determination by the detecting sensors. For example, each alternative component corresponds to one reflection pattern that is detected and assigned by the medical device to the attached component. The identification may be performed, for example, by setting bits upon successful detection and subsequently reading out the resulting bit pattern.
A pattern may be detected, for example, by a detection area in which infrared reflection sensors are arranged side by side. The arrangement then produces a field with subareas, each of which includes one photosensor.
In one embodiment, a medical device may include a component. The component may include reflectors for the reflection of infrared light. The arrangement of the reflectors is chosen according to a generated reflection pattern that is typical for the component, which can be detected by the medical device and assigned to the component.
A reflection area that substantially corresponds to a detection area of the medical device may be produced at the component. The reflection area may have sections that are reflective or non-reflective according to the typical reflection pattern for the component.
A robust and contamination-resistant encoding of replaceable components may be provided. The identification is independent of the mechanical process of attaching the component, and is thus, less prone to faults. Standard components (e.g., a reflection sensor, decimal decoder) can be used, as a result of which the realization can be achieved with little outlay. Through the selection of optical encoding as a contactless method, the advantage of a reduced space requirement, for example, in comparison with magnetic encoding (permanent magnets and reed contacts) is also achieved.
The component may include the reflection area by a label attached to the component (identification label). The label may include sections that reflect infrared light according to the typical reflection pattern. In other words, a component can be adapted for an identification by a simple identification label that can be produced cost-effectively.
In one embodiment, the medical device may include an independent mechanism for verifying the attachment of a component to be identified. For example, upon attachment of the component, a lever is actuated or a catch is engaged, and thus, a switch is actuated. Actuation of the switch signals the plugging in and/or attachment of the component. The mirror reflection sensors may be made to trigger as a function of the presence of a component. The mirror reflection sensors may be trigged when a component is attached. In other words, the mirror reflection mechanism of identification is only activated by attaching the component.
An additional optional safety measure may include attaching an infrared filter in front of the infrared reflection sensors in order to avoid triggering by electromagnetic radiation with adjacent wavelengths.
A method of identifying a component attached to a medical device according to which the component is identified by a reflection pattern that is typical for the component is provided. The identification may take place when the result of verification by an independent mechanism indicates that a component is attached.
In the case of the upper signal curve for the PID DAT signal readout no compression plate (no paddle) is present. The LCK bit has a value of 1. When all six associated inputs (bits 1-6) have a value of 1, for example, no reflected light has been detected. In the case of the lower curve for PID DAT a compression plate is attached (paddle locked). The LCK bit has a value of 0, for example, identification has taken place by reflection sensors. Bits 1-6 all have a value of 0, for example, reflected infrared light was detected by all detectors. This equates to encoding of the component that reflects at all six fields (paddle ID). The bit sequence corresponds to a hexadecimal value 0x3F that can be decoded by a decimal decoder.
The present embodiments are not restricted to this exemplary embodiment. The present embodiments may be used for the identification of detectors and catapult Bucky cabinets. For example, the detection of a cassette format by distance measurement described in DE 10327268 A1 may be replaced with the method of the present embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE 102007057286.9 | Nov 2007 | DE | national |
