US Patent 7256771 Apparatus for operating a medical appliance

An apparatus for operating a medical appliance, such as a moving operating table, has a touchscreen on which a user interface is displayed. The user interface has a number of first buttons. A control unit initiates first actions of the medical appliance when the first buttons are actuated by a user. Furthermore, the user interface has at least one stop area which, when actuated, stops any first action. The first buttons and the stop area are spatially distributed over the user interface such that center points between each first button and the stop area are located outside each first button.