Patent Application
20080003555
A more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate like features and wherein:
Embodiments of the invention disclosed herein provide a system and method for facilitating setup of consumables associated with surgical instrumentation.
One embodiment of the invention is directed to a surgical system capable of displaying a video clip or other suitable media file showing setup instructions. The video clip corresponds to a consumable or consumable pack which can be scanned or selected by the user or otherwise recognized by the surgical system. The invention and various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description.
Descriptions of known programming techniques, computer software, hardware, operating platforms and protocols may be omitted so as not to unnecessarily obscure the invention in detail. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation. Various substitutions, modifications, additions and/or rearrangements within the spirit and/or scope of the underlying inventive concept will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
Surgical console 100 also includes a connection panel 120 used to connect various tools and consumables to surgical console 100. Connection panel 120 can include, for example, a coagulation connector, balanced salt solution receiver, connectors for various hand pieces and a fluid management system (“FMS”) or cassette receiver 125. Surgical console 100 can also include a variety of user friendly features, such as a foot pedal control (e.g., stored behind panel 130) and other features.
In operation, a cassette (not shown) can be placed in cassette receiver 125. Clamps in surgical console 100 clamp the cassette in place to minimize movement of the cassette during use. The clamps can clamp the top and bottom of the cassette, the sides of the cassette or otherwise clamp the cassette.
Surgical console 100 is provided by way of example and embodiments of the present invention can be implemented with a variety of surgical systems. Example surgical systems in which cassettes according to various embodiments of the present invention can be used include, for example, the Series 2000® Legacy® cataract surgical system, the Accurus® 400VS surgical system, and the Infiniti™ Vision System surgical system, all available from Alcon Laboratories Inc. of Fort Worth, Tex. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention can be used with a variety of surgical cassettes, examples of which are described in U.S. Pub. Nos. 2005/0186098 (application Ser. No. 11/114,289 to Davis et al.), 2004/0253129 (application Ser. No. 10/891,642 to Sorensen et al.), 2005/0065462 (application Ser. No. 10/979,433 to Nazarifar et al.), 2003/0225363 (application Ser. No. 10/156,175 to Gordon et al.), 2001/0016711 (application Ser. No. 09/846,724 to Sorensen et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,926 to Sorensen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,695 to Cook, U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,833 to Cook, U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,258 to Wang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,051 to Steppe, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,850 to DeMeo, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,238 to Sundblom et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,816 to Sundblom et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,956 to Beuchat, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,342 to Beuchat, U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,458 to Cole et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,544 to Jung et al., each of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein. Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented for other suitable surgical systems and cassettes as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.
The surgical cassette, in the embodiment of
Surgical console interface section 170 can provide an interface for fluid flow channels (e.g., flow channel 177 for the peristaltic pump provided by an elastomeric pump membrane), valves (e.g., irrigation/aspiration valves), pressure sensors and other features to manage fluid flow. Cassette 150 can also attach to a fluid bag (not shown) to collect fluids during a procedure.
In operation, cassette 150 is held in place in cassette receiver 125 by clamp rails that contact cassette 150 in the clamping zones. For example, the upper clamp rail will contact cassette 150 in clamping zone 160 and clamping zone 165 while the bottom clamp rail (e.g., bottom clamp rail 142) will contact cassette 150 at similar bottom clamping zones.
Thus, it can be seen from the previous FIGURES that setting up surgical instrumentation can take several steps, including, but not limited to, connecting hand pieces through various connection ports and inserting cassettes. Depending on the consumables used, the setup steps may vary. As described below, embodiments of the present invention can facilitate and streamline the setup process of surgical instrumentation through displaying video clip(s) or other suitable media showing appropriate setup instructions that correspond to the consumable(s) being used in connection with the surgical instrumentation. Optionally, content as well as the manner in which setup instructions are provided can depend on the sophistication of the user.
In practice, each consumable pack may contain one or more consumables or consumable items. Embodiments of the present invention can recognize the consumable pack (or individual consumable items) and play appropriate content for setting up the consumables. In one embodiment, consumable pack recognition device 516 can be a barcode scanner, RFID recognition device or other device. In one embodiment, database 532 can be programmed to be searchable via a scanned barcode, RFID, key or other search parameter. Other suitable search techniques (e.g., such as searching by radio frequency identifications (RFID)) can be used as would be recognized by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, functional block 570 is connected to display 510. In one embodiment, similar to swivel monitor 110 of
Program 530 and database 532 may be stored at a number of different locations and executed in a distributed manner. Database 532 may reside on the same computer-readable medium as program 530 or it may reside on a separate computer-readable medium internal or external to device 570 or surgical system 500. Moreover, either or both program 530 and database 532 could be part of a larger program, can comprise separate programs operable to communicate data to each other, or can be implemented according to any suitable programming architecture and language.
As to the manner in which a consumable pack is recognized by surgical system 500, any commercially available or known product identification or product recognition methodology and apparatus may be adapted or otherwise suitably implemented in embodiments of the invention, as long as consumable pack recognition device 516 can identify consumable packs for surgical system 500. For example, smart tags, RFID tags or labels and corresponding sensors may be utilized in place of or in addition to barcodes and barcode scanners. Additionally, the user can input an indication of which consumables are to be used (e.g., by entering an item number or SKU via the SUI). So long as display 510 can allow a user to interact with surgical system 500, the formats, styles, sizes, colors, features, and configuration of the GUI and the touch screen of display 510 may vary from one implementation to another.
When a consumable pack has been recognized, whether through barcode, RFID tag, smart tag, user input or other identification of the consumable pack, program 530 can access database 532 to determine which media files to play for the associated consumables. The order in which particular media files are played can depend on the consumables in the consumable pack. In operation, the media files are played to provide a tutorial to a user on the setup of the consumables. Through the use of media content, embodiments of the present invention increase the efficiency of the setup procedure. Moreover, unlike paper DFUs, the setup instructions are not easily lost or misplaced as they are stored as computer data, preferably on the surgical console that is being setup.
As one skilled in the art can appreciate, embodiments of the invention disclosed herein can be modified or otherwise implemented in many different ways without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention. For example, computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium may reside on a variety of computing devices and/or in various computing environments. Program 530 may be executable to receive data from and store data to database 532 over a network in which surgical system 500 resides.
In one embodiment, once the identity of the first consumable or the first consumable pack is known, the method may further comprise querying a database and obtaining from the database information associated with the consumable or with the first consumable pack (Step 604). In one embodiment, the querying can be accomplished by looking up consumable information stored in the database. Information obtained at Step 604 may be utilized to update pack-dependent settings at Step 605 (e.g., probe types, handpieces, video clips to be played). Additionally, information obtained at Step 604 can include Directions for Use (DFU) associated with one or more consumable items (e.g., from the consumable pack).
The method may further comprise displaying a menu on display 510 with information obtained at Step 604 and may include running an application on surgical system 500 to provide a step-by-step guide in setting up the first consumable or the one or more consumables in the first consumable pack (Step 607). The wizard application can utilize data obtained from database 532 to provide instructions on how to setup consumables. Surgical system 500 may operate to detect the completion of each step and play audio/video, image(s), text or a combination thereof showing the next step in the setup sequence. In one embodiment, the method may include a step of automatically playing on display 510 a video clip and other media associated with identified consumables (Step 608). The method may further include a step of enabling to control playing of the video or other media. If all DFU steps are completed, the method may end (Step 610) or proceed to allow the next consumable or consumable pack to be scanned, selected, or otherwise identified. The steps of
As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention facilitate setup of surgical instrumentation by providing media content (e.g., video, audio, multimedia content) associated with consumable items. The media content can provide a tutorial on the setup of the consumable items.
In the Advanced mode (e.g., by selecting the “Go To Advanced” button as depicted in
In the Video mode, a user who just wants a quick review of the setup steps can choose to play the entire video without interruption. As illustrated in
In the Wizard mode, a user is given setup instructions one step at a time (e.g., “1. Insert Cassette into receiver mechanism.”), as illustrated in
As one skilled in the art can appreciate, the UI of surgical system 500 may vary from one implementation to another. As an example,
Embodiments of the invention described above can be a user-friendly replacement or addition to the DFUs located on the consumable pack. Moreover, embodiments of the invention can help to prevent errors due to misconnection of consumables, prevent improper setup of a surgical console, eliminate problems associated with the loss of paper DFUs, streamline the setup process, and increase the speed of setting up the surgical instrument. The functionality of the underlying surgical system extends to cover a wide range of skill levels and knowledge of users (e.g., the surgical staff working in an operating room). Embodiments of the invention can be particularly useful in facilitating the surgical staff to setup complex surgical instrumentation and consumables associated therewith correctly and efficiently.
While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall within the scope of the invention as detailed in the following claims.
