System and method for control of medical equipment using multiple wireless devices

1. A wireless control system for communicating with a body-scanning device using multiple wireless devices, comprising:

a footswitch enclosure;

an integrated switch pad carried on the footswitch enclosure containing at least one substantially flat footswitch zone containing a switch, wherein the switch in the at least one footswitch zone is configured to be actuated with a person's foot;

a secure wireless transmitter located within the footswitch enclosure and configured to form a secure wireless connection between the wireless footswitch and a footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device to communicate actuation of the footswitch zone to enable an operator to control the body-scanning device using the footswitch;

a handswitch enclosure;

at least one handswitch zone carried on the handswitch enclosure containing a switch, wherein the switch in the at least one handswitch zone is configured to be actuated with a person's hand; and

a wireless handswitch transmitter located within the handswitch enclosure and configured to communicate actuation of the at least one handswitch zone carried on the handswitch enclosure to a handswitch receiver located in the footswitch enclosure, wherein the secure wireless transmitter located within the footswitch enclosure is further configured to communicate signals from the handswitch receiver to the footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device to enable an operator to control the body-scanning device using at least one of the handswitch zone and the footswitch zone.

2. A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a microprocessor electrically connected to the secure wireless transmitter located within the footswitch enclosure, wherein the microprocessor is operable to scan a status of the switch in each of the at least one substantially flat footswitch zones and the at least one handswitch zone.

3. A system as in claim 2 , further comprising a watchdog timer configured to receive a pulsed signal from the microprocessor that is pulsed at a predetermined rate when the microprocessor is operating within selected parameters, wherein the watchdog timer is operable to reset the microprocessor when the pulsed signal is pulsed at less than the selected rate.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the secure wireless transmitter is operable to transmit a signal to the body-scanning device to turn off an output of the body scanning device when the pulsed signal is pulsed at less than the selected rate.

5. A system as in claim 2 , further comprising a priority switch coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the priority switch is operable to select between the communication of actuation of the at least one footswitch zone and communication of actuation of the at least one handswitch zone to the footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the body-scanning device is selected from the group consisting of a fixed x-ray emitting device, a portable x-ray emitting device, a fluoroscope, a magnetic resonance imager, a nuclear magnetic imager, an ultrasound imager, and a proton scanner.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secure wireless receiver and the secure wireless transmitter are Bluetooth® enabled devices that meet the requirements of a Bluetooth® specification.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secure wireless receiver is configured to recognize only the secure wireless transmitter during a paring operation.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the secure wireless receiver and the secure wireless transmitter are placed in non-discoverable mode after pairing to provide enhanced security.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the substantially flat footswitch zones on the integrated switch pad and the handswitch zones on the handswitch enclosure are illuminated to enable the wireless control device to be used in a darkened environment.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the footswitch zones and the handswitch zones are illuminated using a light source selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes, fiber optics, and electroluminescence.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secure wireless transmitter is operable to transmit scrambled data and the footswitch receiver is operable to receive the scrambled data and descramble the data and communicate the descrambled data to the body scanning device.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the handswitch transmitter is operable to transmit scrambled data and the handswitch receiver is operable to receive the scrambled data and descramble the data and communicate the descrambled data to the secure wireless transmitter for communication to the secure wireless receiver and the body scanning device.

14. A method for wirelessly controlling a body-scanning device using multiple wireless devices, comprising:

providing an integrated switch pad carried on a footswitch enclosure containing at least one substantially flat footswitch zone containing a switch, wherein the switch in the at least one footswitch zone is configured to be actuated with a person's foot, wherein the footswitch enclosure includes a secure wireless transmitter operable to communicate a secure wireless signal from the footswitch enclosure to a footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device in response to an actuation of the at least one footswitch zone;

providing at least one handswitch zone containing a switch that is carried on a handswitch enclosure, wherein the handswitch enclosure includes a wireless handswitch transmitter configured to communicate actuation of the at least one handswitch zone to a handswitch receiver located in the footswitch enclosure, wherein the secure wireless transmitter located within the footswitch enclosure is further configured to communicate signals from the handswitch receiver to the footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device to enable an operator to control the body-scanning device using one of the at least one handswitch zone and the at least one substantially flat footswitch zone.

15. A method as in claim 14 , further comprising selecting between a priority of communication of actuation of the at least one footswitch zone and communication of actuation of the at least one handswitch zone to the footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device.

16. A method as in claim 14 , further comprising scanning a status of the at least one footswitch zone and the at least one handswitch zones using a microprocessor to determine when actuation occurs.

17. A method as in claim 16 , further comprising monitoring a condition of the microprocessor to determine when the microprocessor is operating within predetermined parameters and transmitting a signal to the footswitch receiver coupled to the body-scanning device to turn off an output of the body-scanning device when the microprocessor is operating outside of the predetermined parameters.

18. A method as in claim 17 , further comprising monitoring the condition of the microprocessor using a watchdog timer configured to receive a pulsed signal from the microprocessor that is pulsed at a predetermined rate when the microprocessor is operating within the predetermined parameters, wherein the watchdog timer is operable to reset the microprocessor when the pulsed signal is pulsed at less than the predetermined rate.

19. A method as in claim 14 , further comprising illuminating at least one of the at least one substantially flat footswitch zone and the at least one handswitch zone to enable the wireless control of the body-scanning device in a darkened room.

20. A method as in claim 14 , further comprising providing an integrated switch pad carried on a footswitch enclosure containing a plurality of substantially flat footswitch zones with a tactile divider located between each footswitch zone to provide feedback to a user concerning a location of the user's foot on the footswitch enclosure.