Patent ID: 8798714

Claim:
A method to control a medical apparatus, comprising: placing a patient on a patient placement device of said medical apparatus that comprises a plurality of electromechanical sensors arranged in a two-dimensional array in said patient placement device; after placement of the patient on the patient placement device, operating said plurality electromechanical sensors to obtain respective measurement signals individually from the plurality electromechanical sensors, each of said plurality respective measurement signals representing breathing activity and cardiac activity of the patient; supplying the respective measurement signals from said plurality electromechanical sensors to a signal evaluation device and, in said signal evaluation device, automatically evaluating the respective measurement signals to identify a position of the heart of the patient with respect to the patient placement device; in said signal evaluation device, dependent on the position of the heart of the patient with respect to the patient placement device that has been identified, identifying respective electromagnetic sensors, among a plurality of electromagnetic sensors, that emit respective measurement signals representing chest breathing by the patient and identifying respective electromagnetic sensors, among said respective electromagnetic sensors, that emit respective measurement signals representing diaphragmatic breathing of the patient; at respectively different times, selectively operating said medical apparatus to interact with a chest region of the patient or to interact with an abdominal region of the patient; when operating said medical apparatus to interact with the chest region of the patient, generating a first trigger signal in said signal evaluation device exclusively from the respective measurement signals emitted by said electromagnetic sensors that represent chest breathing, and automatically triggering interaction of said medical apparatus with the chest region of the patient using said first trigger signal; and when operating said medical apparatus to interact with the abdominal region of the patient, generating a second trigger signal in said evaluation unit exclusively from the respective measurement signals emitted by the electromagnetic sensors that represent diaphragmatic breathing, and triggering interaction of said medical apparatus with the abdominal region of the patient dependent on said second trigger signal.