Patent ID: 8709009

Claim:
A system for remotely controlling a medical device having multiple operating modalities, comprising: a medical device having more than one operating modality for use in a surgical suite, said medical device being configured to perform at least one of a first function and a second function associated with a first operating modality and to perform at least a third function associated with a second operating modality of said medical device; a remote control unit having a first switch and a second switch, which when said first switch is activated, issues a first remote command signal for controlling at least one of the first function and the second function associated with said first operating modality, and, when the second switch is activated, issues a second remote command signal for controlling the at least the third function associated with said second operating modality; and a controller that connects to said medical device and which is configured to, in response to receiving the first remote command signal from said remote control unit, dispatch a first appropriately formatted device command signal to said medical device in order to control one of the first function and the second function associated with said first operating modality, and in response to the second remote control signal from the remote control unit controlling the at least the third function associated with said second operating modality, wherein the first function of said first operating modality and the at least the third function of said second operating modality of said medical device can be both independently and simultaneously controlled by said remote control unit to independently and simultaneously perform the first function and the third function.