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EP-3771458-B1 - REMOTE CONTROL FOR A MEDICAL APPARATUS, SYSTEM OF THE REMOTE CONTROL AND THE MEDICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE MEDICAL APPARATUS

EP3771458B1EP 3771458 B1EP3771458 B1EP 3771458B1EP-3771458-B1

Inventors

  • ZEH, Leonard

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190729

Claims (16)

  1. A remote control (2) for controlling a medical apparatus (3) having at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4"), the remote control (2) comprising: a position sensor (5) configured to detect a position and a motion of the remote control (2); at least one release switch (6); and at least one respective button or softkey for actuating the or each release switch (6), wherein the remote control (2) is configured to emit a control signal when the at least one release switch (6) is actuated, by the respective button or softkey being pressed, to release a control of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4"), wherein the control signal is capable of controlling a motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") according to a motion of the remote control (2) detected by the position sensor (5), and characterised in that the remote control (2) is further configured to emit a stop command for stopping the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") when the remote control (2) is moved into a horizontal position.
  2. The remote control (2) of claim 1, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to emit the control signal according to a direction of the motion of the remote control (2) detected by the position sensor (5) with respect to a position of the remote control (2) when the at least one release switch (6) is actuated to start the release of the control of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment.
  3. The remote control (2) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to emit the control signal according to an amount of the motion of the remote control (2).
  4. The remote control (2) of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to emit the control signal according to a speed of the motion of the remote control (2).
  5. The remote control (2) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the position sensor (5) comprises an inclinometer.
  6. The remote control (2) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the position sensor (5) comprises an acceleration sensor.
  7. A system (1) of a remote control (2) of any one of the preceding claims and a medical apparatus (3), wherein the remote control (2) is configured to control the motion of at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") of the medical apparatus (3) by the control signal.
  8. The system (1) of claim 7, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to control a direction of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") according to a direction of the motion of the remote control (2) with respect to a position of the remote control (2) when the at least one release switch (6) starts to release the control of the motion.
  9. The system (1) of claim 7 or 8, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to control a speed of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") according to an amount of the motion of the remote control (2) with respect to a position of the remote control (2) when the at least one release switch (6) starts to release the control of the motion, wherein the speed of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") is the higher the larger the amount of the motion of the remote control (2) is.
  10. The system (1) of any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the remote control (2) is configured to control a speed of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") according to a speed of the motion of the remote control (2), wherein the speed of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") is as higher as higher the speed of the motion of the remote control (2) is.
  11. The system (1) of any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the remote control (2) comprises several release switches (6), the medical apparatus (3) comprises at least one driven movable segment (4, 4', 4") which performs several motions respectively driven by a driving device or the medical apparatus (3) comprises several movable segments (4, 4', 4") respectively driven by a driving device, and the several release switches (6) are respectively assigned to a specific motion of one of the driven movable segments (4, 4', 4").
  12. The system (1) of any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the remote control (2) comprises a communication interface (7) configured to establish a communication to the medical apparatus in a wireless manner.
  13. The system (1) of any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the remote control (2) comprises a communication interface (7) having a connection cable configured to establish a communication to the medical apparatus in a wired manner.
  14. The system (1) of any one of claims 7 to 13, wherein the medical apparatus (3) is configured as an operating table.
  15. A method for operating a medical apparatus (3) by means of a remote control (2) with the steps: releasing a control of a motion of a specific one of driven movable segments (4, 4', 4") of the medical apparatus (3) by actuating a specific release switch (6) of the remote control (2); controlling a motion of the specific one of the movable segments (4, 4', 4") by moving the remote control (2) with respect to a position of the remote control (2) when the specific release switch is actuated, by a respective button or softkey being pressed, to release the control of the motion of the specific one of the movable segments (4, 4', 4"); and emitting a stop command for stopping the motion of the specific one of the driven movable segments (4, 4', 4") when the remote control (2) is moved into a horizontal position.
  16. The method of claim 15, wherein a direction of the motion of the specific one of the driven movable segments (4, 4', 4") is defined by a direction of motion of the remote control (2) around an axis (B) perpendicular to an elongated shape of the remote control (2) or around an axis (A) parallel to the elongated shape of the remote control (2).

Description

The invention relates to a remote control for a medical apparatus, a system of the remote control and the medical apparatus, and a method for operating the medical apparatus, in particular, to a remote control for a medical apparatus having several movable segments driven in a controlled manner, a system of the remote control and the medical apparatus, and a method for operating the medical apparatus. A remote control for a medical apparatus which controls motions of movable segments of the medical apparatus is known. For security against unintended use, the remote control usually includes at least one release switch and several switches for controlling motions in different directions of the respective movable segments. EP 2 455 959 A1 discloses such a remote control. However, in particular, in a case of an operating table as the medical apparatus, the number of the movable segments increases. Therefore, the number of the switches actuated by buttons or soft keys of a touch screen increases and the existing remote controls have the disadvantage that, due to the increased number of buttons or soft keys, an operation of the operating table became uncomfortable. Furthermore, an intuitive operation, in particular, an adjustment of a speed of the motion of the movable segments is not provided. US 2009/126115 A1 provides a remote controller for an adjustable support apparatus for supporting a patient which includes an input device configured to accept control commands for adjusting a support apparatus for supporting a patient, at least one sensor configured to detect a pick-up of the remote controller by a user, and a transmitter device configured to transmit the control commands to the support apparatus for supporting a patient. The detection of the pick-up of the remote controller by the user activates the remote controller. US 2015/245965 A1 provides operating units for a medical apparatus having a driven movable element comprising a fixing device for being fixed to the movable element, an actuating element, a signal processing device, at least one actuation sensor for detecting an actuation of the actuating element in at least one predetermined actuation axis, wherein the actuation sensor is adapted to supply an actuation signal depending on a direction of actuation in the actuation axis to the signal processing device and at least one direction sensor for outputting a direction signal. The signal processing device is adapted to align an actuation coordinate system according to the direction signal such that the direction of movement is equal to the direction of actuation. The invention is based on the object to overcome the above disadvantages and to provide a remote control for a medical apparatus enabling a comfortable operation of the medical apparatus in an intuitive manner. The object is achieved by a remote control according to claim 1, a system according to claim 7 and a method according to claim 15. Further developments of the invention are included in the dependent claims. According to an aspect of the invention, a remote control for controlling a medical apparatus having at least one driven movable segment comprises a position sensor configured to detect a position and a motion of the remote control, at least one release switch; and at least one respective button or softkey for actuating the or each release switch. The remote control is configured to emit a control signal when the at least one release switch is actuated, by the respective button or softkey being pressed, to release a control of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment. The control signal is capable of controlling a motion of the at least one driven movable segment according to a motion of the remote control detected by the position sensor. The remote control is further configured to emit a stop command for stopping the motion of the at least one driven movable segment when the remote control is moved into a horizontal position. By such a remote control, merely pressing of one button or one soft key for actuating the release switch is necessary for emitting a specific control signal since, after the release by the release switch, the control signal is then emitted due to the motion of the remote control itself. In an advantageous implementation of the remote control, the remote control is configured to emit the control signal according to a direction of the motion of the remote control detected by the position sensor with respect to a position of the remote control when the at least one release switch is actuated to start the release of the control of the motion of the at least one driven movable segment. When the control signal is emitted according to the direction of the motion of the remote control, an intuitive operation or motion of the movable segment is simply possible by moving the remote control according to a desired motion of the movable segment. In a further advantageous implementation of the remote control,