Meditech: The infrared controller

19 Jul 2015

Introduction

Meditech device has been though to be as simple as possible for the user. It is oriented to users that does not need having some kind of IT knowledge and its interface should be extremely simple to use. Usability is one of the most important aspects for two reasons: The possible conditions of use and the accessibility of the device to non-specialized users. Users interact with the device through three components: the controller, the LCD color display and the status LCD alphanumeric display on the control panel. Plus the use of the probes, that are non-invasive medical devices. To use the probe correctly to acquire information from the subject it is expected that the operator has a specific knowledge while the control of the entire system does not require complex training.

The controller

The infrared controller is one of the innovative approaches that has been adopted to reach this goal. Meditech is a semi automatic system for medial patient data acquisition in extreme conditions or difficult environments; in most of the cases one of the key factors to reach a correct diagnosis is the ability to collect a wide number of data on the patient health status as fast as possible.

The user interaction is simple and strictly oriented to the use of the probes. In fact the data storage, the connection between the internal components and all the tasks that contribute to the creation of the diagnostic visualization and storage of the information are in charge of the system. The user should simply press few buttons, launch a series of chained tasks and manage the probe.

Beside the usability the choice of a short range infrared device has the advantage to be managed nearby the patient; the operator should be in the condition to dedicate more attention to the medical diagnostic and first aid activity then to control the device itself.

The device buttons has been divided in usage areas that can assume different meaning depending on task Meditech is executing but are always coherent. As shown in the image these subdivision areas are the following:

Power off

It is the power off button. When pressed initiate a full Meditech shutdown process in a secure way avoiding data loss. This action is not reversible and when started can't be stopped.

Note: The power-off button only set the shutdown request. To be effective this actions should be followed by the Ok confirmation button. If any other button is pressed the request is aborted.

Reload initial state

This button reset the entire Meditech system to the initial (power on) condition. The actual meaningful parameters are saved avoiding data loss. This action is not reversible and when started can't be stopped.

Note: The power-off button only set the shutdown request. To be effective this actions should be followed by the Ok confirmation button. If any other button is pressed the request is aborted.

Direct commands

Every numeric button 0-9 is associated to a direct command to activate a specific probe. The actual beta version has the following associations:

[1] Stethoscope [2] Blood pressure [3] Heart beat [4] Body temperature [5] E.C.G.

Mute voice

By default most of the actions of the Meditech device are spoken by a synthetic voice through the two speakers on the control panel. This button enable/disable the voice messages in any moment. The setting of this parameter is persistent at the further work sessions.

Generic +/- buttons

The controller includes two set of buttons to increase / decrease interactively some data values, depending on the task in execution.

Confirm

The confirm OK button should be used for confirmation of tasks that requires double buttons (i.e. Power off and Reload initial state)

Jog control

The jog control button set is used to manage four directions movements.

Direct shortcuts

The direct shortcuts buttons are used to activate high priority surrounding functions that are always available, despite what is the task in execution.