Patent ID: 7835498

Claim:
A system for controlling one or more functions of one or more medical devices, the system comprising: an operator tracking unit arranged to determine a silhouette of a body part, hand, facial feature, or entire body of the operator; an evaluation device arranged to evaluate the determined silhouette; a control device arranged to control the function of the medical device; and an operating mode selector and a pedal or switch, wherein the operating mode selector selects between four or more operating modes, the first operating mode being one of maximum safety which requires pressing of the pedal or switch in combination with silhouette detection, a second operating mode which is fully automatic and requires only silhouette detection, a third operating mode which requires only pressing of the pedal or switch, and a fourth operating mode which requires silhouette detection to activate the function of the medical device and the function continues until it is deactivated by pressing of the pedal or switch or by another silhouette detection.