# US 10,117,748 B2 · Method and system for aligning a prosthesis during surgery > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,117,748 B2 - Document ID: US10117748B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/799,909 - Filed: 2015-07-15 - Published: 2015-11-05 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2010-12-17 - Assignees: Intellijoint Surgical Inc. - Applicants: Intellijoint Surgical Inc. - Inventors: Richard Tyler Fanson; Andre Novomir Hladio; Armen Garo Bakirtzian - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10117748B2 ## CPC - A61F 2/32: for the hip - A61B 34/20: Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis - A61B 34/25: {User interfaces for surgical systems} - A61B 90/39: {Markers, e.g. radio-opaque or breast lesions markers} - A61F 2/46: Special tools for implanting artificial joints - A61B 5/0077: {Devices for viewing the surface of the body, e.g. camera, magnifying lens} - A61B 5/11: Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)} - A61B 5/1114: {Tracking parts of the body} - A61B 5/1127: {using markers} - A61B 5/4528: {Joints (A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence)} - A61B 6/032: {Transmission computed tomography [CT]} - A61B 17/17: Guides {or aligning means} for drills {, mills, pins or wires} - A61B 17/1703: {using imaging means, e.g. by X-rays} - A61B 17/1746: {for the acetabulum} - A61B 17/1764: {for the knee} - A61B 34/10: Computer-aided planning, simulation or modelling of surgical operations - A61B 90/37: {Surgical systems with images on a monitor during operation} - A61B 2034/107: {Visualisation of planned trajectories or target regions} - A61B 2034/2048: {using an accelerometer or inertia sensor} - A61B 2034/2055: {Optical tracking systems} - A61B 2034/2057: {Details of tracking cameras} - A61B 2034/2065: {Tracking using image or pattern recognition} - A61B 2034/2068: {using pointers, e.g. pointers having reference marks for determining coordinates of body points} - A61B 2090/3945: {Active visible markers, e.g. light emitting diodes} - A61B 2090/3983: {Reference marker arrangements for use with image guided surgery} - A61F 2/4609: {of acetabular cups} - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract Presented are methods and systems for determining, monitoring, and displaying the relative positioning of two rigid bodies during surgery. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for positioning a prosthesis relative to a bone during a surgery as well as to systems and methods for verifying resulting relative positioning of adjacent bones. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system to guide surgery comprising: a processor; a display unit; a first sensor unit comprising an optical sensor configured to attach to a first bone of a patient, the optical sensor configured to receive light and determine a direction of the light; a second sensor unit comprising at least three markers, which when in use the second sensor unit is attached to an object comprising a surgical tool or a second bone of the patient, the at least three markers configured to emit and/or reflect light to provide a signal representing a six degrees of freedom position to the first sensor unit and, in response to the signal, the first sensor unit generating and communicating sensor information with which to determine a relative position in six degrees of freedom of the object with respect to the first bone; at least one human interface sensor configured to receive user input and configured to provide an input signal to the processor, wherein either the first sensor unit or the second sensor unit comprises the at least one human interface sensor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage device storing instructions and data, which when executed by the processor, configure the processor to: receive the sensor information from the first sensor unit; determine the relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with the sensor information; receive the input signal from the at least one human interface sensor to invoke the processor to save the relative position; determine a second relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with second sensor information received from the first sensor unit; determine display information in accordance with a comparison of the relative position as saved and the second relative position; and, provide the display information for presenting by the display unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the display information is determined in accordance with a registration between the first sensor unit and the first bone thereby to present the relative position of the object relative to an anatomy of the patient. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2 wherein the registration determines the positional relationship of the first sensor unit to a pre-determined geometry of the first bone. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the object is the second bone. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4 wherein the processor determines the relative position of the first bone and the second bone and provides display information based on the relative position. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the first bone is a pelvis. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the first sensor unit comprises the human user interface sensor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the object is the second bone and the second bone is a femur. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the second sensor unit is attached to the femur such that the processor determines the relative position of the femur and the pelvis and provides display information based on the relative position. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the surgical tool is one of a tool for joint replacement surgery, a tool for joint resurfacing surgery and a tool for joint revision surgery. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the optical sensor comprises a camera and is configured to determine the sensor information from the signal. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions and data configure the processor to perform a registration between the first sensor unit and the first bone thereby to present the relative position of the object relative to an anatomy of the patient. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the first sensor unit, when in use, is attached to the bone and has a field of view aligned with a surgical site; and wherein the second senor unit, when in use, provides the signal representing the six degree of freedom position to the first sensor unit when in the field of view. ### Claim 14 A computer implemented method to guide surgery comprising: receiving, at a processor, sensor information from a first sensor unit attached to a first bone of a patient, the first sensor unit generating and communicating the sensor information with which to determine a relative position in six degrees of freedom of an object with respect to the first bone, the sensor information generated in response to a signal from a second sensor unit attached to the object and wherein: the first sensor unit comprises an optical sensor; the second sensor comprises at least three markers configured to emit or reflect light to provide the signal representing the position of the object; and, the object comprises a surgical tool or a second bone of the patient; determining, by the processor, the relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with the sensor information; receiving, by the processor, input from at least one human interface sensor to invoke the processor to save the relative position, wherein either the first sensor unit or the second sensor unit comprises the at least one human interface sensor; determining a second relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with second sensor information received from the first sensor unit: determining, by the processor, display information in accordance with a comparison of the relative position as saved and the second relative position; and, providing, by the processor, the display information for presenting by a display unit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the display information is relative to a registration between the first sensor unit and the first bone thereby to present the relative position of the object relative to an anatomy of the patient. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the processor further performs the registration to determine a positional relationship of the first sensor unit to a pre-determined geometry of the first bone. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the object is the second bone. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein the processor determines the relative position of the first bone and the second bone and provides display information based on the relative position. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the first bone is a pelvis. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 wherein the first sensor unit comprises the human user interface sensor. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 wherein the object is the second bone and the second bone is a femur. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the surgical tool is one of a tool for joint replacement surgery, a tool for joint resurfacing surgery and a tool for joint revision surgery. ### Claim 23 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the optical sensor comprises a camera and is configured to determine the sensor information from the signal. ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the optical sensor is configured to receive light and determine a direction of the light. ### Claim 25 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the first sensor unit, when in use, is attached to the bone and has a field of view aligned with a surgical site; and wherein the second senor unit, when in use, provides the signal representing the six degree of freedom position to the first sensor unit when in the field of view. ### Claim 26 (depends on 14) A non-transitory computer readable storage device storing instructions and data, which when executed by a processor, configure the processor to perform the method of claim 14. ### Claim 27 A system for intra-operative surgical measurement and display of the relative position of a surgical tool with respect to a pelvis of a patient in total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgery, the system comprising: at least one human interface sensor to receive user input; and an optical sensor comprising a camera, the at least one human interface sensor and optical sensor which, when in use, are attached to the pelvis to position a field of view of the optical sensor in alignment with a surgical site for the THA; a sensor unit which, when in use, is attached to the surgical tool, the sensor unit comprising at least three markers configured to emit or reflect light to provide a signal representing a six degrees of freedom position for receiving by the optical sensor, the optical sensor generating and communicating sensor information in response to the signal with which to determine position in six degrees of freedom; and a processor configured to: receive the sensor information from the optical sensor; determine the relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with the sensor information; receive the input signal from the at least one human interface sensor to invoke the processor to save the relative position; determine a second relative position in six degrees of freedom in accordance with second sensor information received from the first sensor unit; determine display information in accordance with a comparison of the relative position as saved and the second relative position; and, provide the display information for presentation by a display unit.