From dentist's chair to multimedia cockpit
30 December 2010
The developers of a communications systems for use in dental surgeries were looking for an embedded solution to provide scalability and performance. Andrea Mayer takes up the story.
KaVo, based in Germany, is a major operator in the dental technology market. One of the most innovative products designed by KaVo is the ERGOcom 4 communication system — a novel solution that turns the classic dentist's chair into a virtual cockpit for the dentist and the patient.
ERGOcom 4 is linked to the network of a dental practice, enabling it to provide dentists with all the information available on a patient and their treatment on a rotatable monitor, straight from the network to the treatment room. Prior to this, the dentist usually had to move away from a patient to a monitor stationed elsewhere and possibly interrupt the procedure for a short interval.
The use of the ERGOcom 4 means that dentists have constant access to x-ray images, treatment records, and various other kinds of patient information right in front of them that is accessible without interrupting the treatment.
There is also the possibility of connecting an interoral camera and producing real-time images of regions that are difficult to access directly on the monitor, thus improving the level of care that the dentist can provide while minimising patient discomfort.
Further to that, ERGOcom 4 generates useful services for patients too. If their treatment proves to be a lengthy procedure, they have a multimedia program at their disposal to distract and entertain them. That puts a patient more at ease, and can make for better results.
Another practical benefit of the product is its Internet access. ERGOcom 4 can simply download new functions or firmware upgrades, enabling a dentist to easily keep the system up to date.
Open-ended for the future
Implementing this revolutionary system called for an embedded computer concept that satisfied a number of complex requirements.
For Tobias Bauer, Software Development Manager at KaVo, flexibility and long-term scalability were the two key criteria for choosing the embedded computer system.
"KaVo emphasises sustainability and flexibility of its solutions, because both are of major importance in medical engineering. Dentists want to invest in technology that's reliable and pays back in the long term. Plus, a system must be open-ended and allow new techniques to be adopted that keep an open route to faster and better forms of treatment," said Bauer.
These are basic principles for KaVo when it comes to choosing its partners, including embedded technology vendors. "An embedded technology should be powerful enough to serve the full functionality of a product and at the same time adaptable enough to allow for any innovations that appear with future developments," Bauer continued. "We also look for partners who can offer us considerable support in the concept phase, not just later."
In search of the right system, the development team attended the Embedded World show in Nuremberg. The first impression after the KaVo team’s meeting and initial consulting discussions with embedded computer technology producer Kontron was a positive one.
Modular solution preferred
"What we found especially interesting was Kontron's modular approach, because modular generally means more flexibility and few if any constraints. These are particularly important features in our medical products, given the fast pace of developments. And we naturally want to offer our customers excellent technology," added the manager of KaVo software development.
A computer-on-module solution also looked to be a sound and economical compromise between single-board computers with add-ons and full custom design. The engineers did consider a motherboard or SBC solution, but these proved to be too inflexible and repeatedly demonstrated limitations when evaluated. A full custom solution, on the other hand, would have been too costly in addition to requiring that long-term flexibility and scalability be forfeited.
What also made Kontron's modular solution attractive was the support available with the COM Express industry standard.
COM Express not only made an impressive start on the strength of its mechanical and electronic concept; current developments show that the standard can be adapted without difficulty to new demands in terms of form factor and energy efficiency. COM Express consequently matches two of KaVo's basic requirements: flexibility and sustainability.
As a result, KaVo's developers elected to begin the evaluation of a Kontron ETXexpress module. The carrier board development was also contracted to Kontron. KaVo was very satisfied with the support it received from Kontron. "Parallel to this, we were trialing other solutions and concepts, so the evaluation phase obviously took its time.
Kontron's support during this period was very good, even on questions connected with other projects," said Bauer of the selection process.
The evaluation phase showed that the envisaged solution was right in all its details. The CPU powers the multimedia functions of ERGOcom 4 with adequate performance. The layout, such as the arrangement of the connectors, could be configured to match the needs of external design, governed by marketing principles, of course. High-speed Ethernet (1 GBit) and a frame grabber for digitising video signals were implemented by the expansion card standard PCI Express.
For flexibility, and simple addition of functionality to ERGOcom 4, the developers used USB interfaces. Peripherals such as KaVo’s x-ray sensors, devices for simple transmission of diagnostic data, or digital cameras could be connected to the four external interfaces of the system in a plug & play mode.
The internal USB interface supports KaVo’s link for wireless communication. The screen has an integrated high-definition multimedia interface, audio functions by audio I/O, and the signals are digitised by Codec97.
The panel PC can be cooled over the standard heatsink of the module. Given the relatively high power consumption of the monitor and power supply, an extra fan was added as active cooling in the metal casing to ensure that the operating temperature would not be excessive.
The system is powered on 12 VDC. An integrated real-time clock and the CMOS RAM buffer are fed from a vanadiumpentoxide lithium battery (VL2320). LEDs on the front indicate the supply voltage. In operation, the consumption of the module is less than 20 VA, while that of the carrier board is less than 15 VA.
The BIOS was matched to custom KaVo requirements — display of the corporate logo, suppression of system log-on, password protection, plus start-up by the foot trigger.
Uninterruptible duty
KaVo put special emphasis on reliability in operation. "An ERGOcom 4 will be in service for at least ten years — running 200 workdays a year at eight hours a day means the system must have adequate operating reserves," outlined Bauer.
Consequently it was important that Kontron's PC panel supported the intended secure operating system solution. The developers opted for Windows Embedded.
This software ranks as being extremely reliable and efficient, in addition to which it offers a flexible assortment of tools and programs.
ERGOcom 4 runs under Windows XP Embedded that is installed on an integrated 40 GB hard disk. Booting takes less than a minute. In the evening, a dentist can simply put the system on cold standby, without shutting it down entirely. To make sure no patient data is lost; data is immediately saved to a server whenever it is changed.
KaVo's technicians also wanted to design the patient's chair to be as user-friendly as possible. The actual customer should never have anything to do with the apparatus at operating system level. To this end, they developed software based on Microsoft Net 3.5 that not only controls the foot trigger, but also conveniently guides a dentist through programs. Remote maintenance of the system is possible over the Internet, and software updates — likewise over the Internet — help to sustain the long-term value of an investment.
High-tech in the dentist's chair
Evaluation convinced KaVo's technicians that the Kontron solution was right for their application. The feature set is an ideal match for ERGOcom 4; in COM Express technology combined with specialist support from Kontron, the product sets up on a reliable, sustainable, and flexible module/carrier board combination.
Consequently, KaVo is able to plan longterm, because new trends are also effortlessly integrated into the system.
Bauer spoke positively in his assessment of the application: "KaVo places a great deal of emphasis on both sustainability and flexibility. Being a manufacturer of medical equipment, we must always aim for a balance between quality and long-term availability, the latest technologies, and emerging trends." Kontron was just the right partner. "They were able to satisfy these requirements and support us in developing the concept," the manager explained. "The people working on the project, on both sides, were the same for its entire duration, so they learned to understand one another and created the right kind of relationship to produce the results we were looking for.
That way we've succeeded in fusing significant features in the ERGOcom 4, such as having an open-ended system for the future and long-term availability."
ANDREA MAYER is Product Marketing Manager at Kontron
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