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Integrating A GUI Into An Existing Medical Device
Roland Piquepaille writes "As I'm not quite familiar with medical devices, I was fascinated by this long article from Medical Electronics Manufacturing. It tells us that "new technology makes graphical user interfaces (GUIs) a fast and cost-effective way to add features and improve on existing designs" of these medical devices. And it really looks simple to use. You just need a standard PC and an HTML authoring tool to develop your GUI. It is then compiled in micro-HTML and embedded in silicon, leading to a graphical OS chip which doesn't need to be powerful or have tons of memory. "The GUI shipped with the Amulet Technologies starter kit, for example, contains almost half a megabit of information in HTML. When all of the gifs, widgets, and other files are imported and compiled into micro-HTML, the file size is reduced to a mere 66 Kb of memory." This overview contains more details and a photograph of such a GUI at work."
How robust is this? I hope they are using QNX or VxWorks. I do think that a GUI could eliminate some errors and make training easier.
an application:Centrifuge. One company evaluating a GUI has a significant stake in the centrifuge market. Its design teams' core competencies are motors and speed control.
As the centrifuge spins too fast and destroys the samples. Maybe destrying DNA evidence and getting a death row inmate killed.
Newly available technology enables medical device manufacturers to avoid additional costs and design complexity without sacrificing time to market
Are they more worried about medical safety or time-to market?
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I could see how something like this could be useful, particularly when building devices which will be used primarily by children: acute asthma sufferers, for example, are told to take daily spirometer readings. The problem with this is that many children will either forget or refuse to take the readings.
Much of the time, children will visit their asthma doctor having "forgotten" to take their daily readings. To make up for it, they take a dozen or so readings right before the appointment: the data is flawed and as a result, treatment suffers. With cutesy GUIs like this integrated into the spirometer, children can look at their daily readings as more of a game than a chore.
Safety and ease-of-use are interconnected. I participated in a project where we did replace an old text-based menu system (designed in the 1980's) using a tcl/tk on top of a largish medical Fortran-based simulation and planning system. I am pretty sure that the gui actually made it safer to use. The selection of tcl was done at a time when python was still at 1.3, and leaked memory like hell. Today, I would choose Python for the gui-building tool, if I would have to add a GUI to a system like that. However, even the tcl/tk conversion was a success story. The company got millions by selling the system, the gui giving a significant boost to declining sales, and the project was ready earlier! than was anticipated.
-- Imperial units must die --
Keep in mind that in many outfits, Lifepak doubles as an EMT's AED; thus, the standard "on, analyze, shock" buttons are there. It's kind of serving double duty, but all really important functions are pretty easy to get to fast, with only a little bit of practice.
and yeah, there are actually 2 button defibrillators -- on, and analyze/shock. However, they're definetly not as powerful as Lifepak, and are designed for use by your average civilian, not an EMT or a medic.
at least you're using LP12 -- on half our fleet we have LP10, which is more than a little outdated.
filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
During my medical training when I was doing time at the neonatology unit at one of the hospitals. I was suprised/shocked to see that one of the ventilators was running a version of windows. Ok, I figured must be a specially designed cut down, more stable version, but then I looked carefully.. and beside the start button was the quick launch tool bar with an icon for internet explorer and media player - that is just plain scarry! would you trust MS with your neonates life?
Thankfully, for the few weeks i was there I never came across anyone complaining bout it. I cant seem to find it on the web, I might have to go back and see what the model and brand was...