Abstract:
The invention relates to a system for performing an interventional therapy of a patient comprising a display unit. The display unit is assigned as a single large format flat screen display, on which information relating to monitoring of the medical intervention, patient information and information to control the system are able to be presented.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority of German application No. 10 2006 003 610.7 filed Jan. 25, 2006, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention relates to an apparatus for interventional patient therapy, with a display unit, on which information relating to monitoring of a medical intervention can be presented.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     These types of apparatus are generally known for interventional therapy. The known apparatuses are provided with imaging components which allow the progress of the intervention to be monitored. The imaging components create image information which can be displayed on a plurality of individual monitors. The monitors concerned are usually cathode ray tube monitors, which are replaced in more recent apparatuses by flat screen displays, so that the display unit weighs less and occupies less space.  
         [0004]     An example of such an apparatus is a monoplanar or biplanar x-ray system for monitoring an intervention undertaken with the aid of a catheter. The image information for monitoring the movement of the catheter is displayed on displays screens which are held on a ceiling-mounted support.  
         [0005]     One disadvantage of the known apparatuses is their limited handling flexibility. As a rule a monitor is assigned in each case to an imaging component and displays the image information created by the imaging component. Thus it is generally not possible to simply display any image information on a specific monitor. In addition there is restricted space available on the individual monitor for displaying image information. It is thus not easily possible to display additional information on a specific monitor or to enlarge the display.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     Using this prior art as its starting point, the underlying object of the invention is to create an apparatus for interventional therapy of which the display unit provides a greater degree of flexibility in the presentation of image information.  
         [0007]     This object is achieved by an apparatus with the features of the independent claim. Advantageous embodiments and developments are specified in its dependent claims.  
         [0008]     In the apparatus for interventional patient therapy the display unit comprises a single screen providing the option of presenting information from different information sources at a position able to be selected by a user. The use of a single display screen of a suitable size gives users the opportunity of displaying the information that they need in the form that they need without as a rule being subject to any space restrictions. In addition users can also freely select the arrangement of the image information on the common display screen. The apparatus thus provides an increased degree of flexibility with regard to the presentation of the image information.  
         [0009]     In a preferred embodiment, a form of presentation selected by a user can be stored under a code and can be retrieved again by the user as required by referencing this code. This offers the advantage that the forms of presentation necessary for the intervention are selected in advance and are able to be rapidly retrieved quickly during the intervention.  
         [0010]     In a further preferred embodiment, a form of presentation can be set using information from the information sources. Preferably the information for setting the form of presentation is linked to the information to be presented. In this way the forms of presentation required for presentation of the information can be set automatically.  
         [0011]     The display screen concerned can be a touch-sensitive screen. This enables users to influence the display on the display screen without further input devices.  
         [0012]     In addition it is possible to provide an input option with the aid of a remote control. This input option is especially of advantage if the user responsible for how the information is presented on the display screen has frequently to change the location at which he or she is operating during an intervention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     Further advantages and details of the invention can be found in the description below, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in detail with reference to the enclosed drawings. The Figures show:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  an apparatus for the magnetic field-supported catheter intervention, which is equipped with a single screen for presentation of the image information necessary to monitor the intervention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2 a  view of the display surface of the display screen of the apparatus from  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 3 a  block diagram of the apparatus depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a system  1  for magnetic field-supported catheter intervention. The system  1  comprises a C-arm  3  mounted on a ceiling support  2 , with magnets  4  accommodated at either end of the C-arm, which create a magnetic field in the space therebetween  5 , through which a magnetic tip of a catheter can be navigated in the body of a patient to be treated. To monitor the movement of the catheter in the body of the patient a further C-arm  7  accommodated on a stand  6  is provided, with an x-ray source  8  and an x-ray detector  9  being accommodated at the ends of said further C-arm.  
         [0018]     During the catheter intervention a patient to be treated lies on a patient table  10 , into which is also integrated a control desk  11  with a plurality of control elements  12 , such as a keyboard or joystick for example. The control desk  11  is used for control of the C-arms  3  and  7  as well as of further components not shown in  FIG. 1 , for example a drive element which moves the catheter in the body of the patient to be examined.  
         [0019]     A single flat screen display  13  is arranged over the patient table  10  in the area of the control desk  11 , on which the information required for operation of the system  1  is displayed. The flat screen display  13  is mounted with the aid of a support  14  on the ceiling which allows it to be tilted and swiveled.  
         [0020]     The flat screen display  13  is preferably a flat screen display with a resolution of at least 1200×1600 pixels. With this level of resolution the flat screen provides sufficient room to display the information content of four conventional display screens with a resolution of 600×800 pixels.  
         [0021]     The flat screen display  13  is further preferably a color display screen or a color display screen able to be switched between a black and white display mode and a color display mode.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  shows a view of the display area of the flat screen display  13 . The flat screen display  13  can display different windows  15  to  18 , of which for example the window  15  shows current x-ray images of the x-ray detector  9 . In a further window  16  information can be displayed about examinations which have already been conducted prior to the intervention. Examples of this are two-dimensional or three three-dimensional images recorded with the aid of computer tomography devices or magnetic resonance devices. Ultrasound recordings can also be displayed in the window  16 . A further window  17  contains information about the current bodily functions of the patient to be examined, for example current electrocardiograms, with which the patient to be examined is monitored. A further window  18  can for example contain data from the database of an HIS (=Hospital Information System), an RIS (=Radiology Information System) or a CIS (=Cardiology Information System).  
         [0023]     The windows  15  to  18  can be moved around by the user in the display area of the flat screen display  13  in any desired manner. Furthermore the sizes of windows  15  to  18  can be reduced or increased as required. For example the window  17  can be moved in the direction of an arrow  19  to create space for enlarging the window  15 .  
         [0024]     Furthermore a menu bar  20  can be provided. Different shortcuts for different forms of presentation can be stored by users in the menu bar  20 , so that users can activate a menu entry  21  to call up a specific form of presentation. Preferably the different forms of presentation are stored before the start of the intervention, so that the different forms of presentation can be retrieved at short notice.  
         [0025]     Forms of presentation in this case should be understood as being a specific configuration or parameterization of the windows  15  to  18  as regards arrangement, resolution, size, color display, modality and display mode of the windows. Display mode in this case should be understood as the behavior of the window in relation to other windows. In particular specific windows with important information can always be placed in the foreground. Modality is further to be understood as the behavior of the window in respect of the application creating it. Modal windows do not allow further processing with the application which has created them until they have been closed.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of the system  1 . To aid clarity, the block diagram in  FIG. 3  only shows the C-arm  7  together with its stand  6 . The C-arm  3  with the magnets  4  is by contrast not shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0027]     In accordance with  FIG. 3  the flat screen display  13  is equipped with an infrared sensor  22 , via which the flat screen display  13  can be operated with the aid of a remote control  23 . This embodiment of the system  1  is especially of advantage, if the user responsible for the display on the flat screen display  13  has to operate at changing locations.  
         [0028]     In addition it is possible to control the display of the flat screen display  13  with the aid of the control desk  11 . Suitable keys can be provided for this purpose on the control desk  11 , which the user can program in advance to assign different forms of presentation to them. The individual forms of presentation can however also be called up with the aid of a mouse pointer shown on the flat screen display  13 , the movement of which is controlled by a control means embodied at the control desk  11 . The desired menu entry  21  can then be selected and activated for example with the aid of the mouse pointer.  
         [0029]     Furthermore it is possible to equip the flat screen display  13  with the option of touch-screen input. In this case users can call up individual forms of presentation by touching the flat screen display  13  or move or resize individual windows  15  to  18 .  
         [0030]     In a further modified embodiment the flat screen display  13  is controlled with the aid of a laser pointer. For this purpose a transparent disk can be arranged in front of the flat screen display  13 . This disk can be used to define the point at which the laser beam emitted by the laser pointer hits the flat screen display  13 . The laser beam of the laser pointer can then perform the function of a mouse pointer. A menu entry  21  to be selected in the menu bar  20  can then be activated accordingly by the laser pointer.  
         [0031]     In accordance with  FIG. 3  the control desk  11  and the flat screen display  13  as well as the infrared sensor  22  are connected to a system processor  24  which also controls the movement of the C-arm  3  with the magnet  4  as well as the movement of the C-arm  7  with the x-ray source  8  and the x-ray detector  9 . The system processor  24  can be connected to a network  25 , and by accessing a data memory  26 , for example a PACS server, can retrieve image representations of pre-interventional examinations for display on the flat screen display  13 . In addition data from an HIS, RIS or a CIS can also be retrieved from the measurement data memory  26 . The data retrieved from the HIS, RIS or CIS can be presentational image data or data available in text form.  
         [0032]     Data which can be retrieved from the data memory  26  can comprise presentation data which allows automatic selection of a suitable form of presentation. For example x-ray images retrieved from an RIS can contain presentation data or be linked to presentation data which allows a suitable presentation for the x-ray image to be selected automatically. This enables the burden on the medical personnel to be greatly reduced when they are carrying out the intervention.  
         [0033]     It should be pointed out that large-format flat screen displays  13  for presentation of patient or system information can also be used with further systems for interventional medicine. In particular these types of large-format flat screen displays  13  can replace a plurality of monitors usually employed for control of monoplanar and biplanar C-arm systems.