Determining a surgical port for a trocar or laparoscope

A method in a medical procedure planning system including a computer having a processor and a non-transitory memory device operatively coupled with the processor for determining control data for controlling the position of at least one end effector of at least one robotic device, comprising:

• acquiring, by the processor of the computer system, patient image data that describes a medical patient image of at least a part of the patient's body including a surface of the anatomical body part;
• acquiring, by the processor of the computer system, target region data that describes position and a geometry of a target region in the patient's body, wherein the target region defines a region in the patient's body that is to be treated by using the at least two medical instruments;
• acquiring, by the processor of the computer system, instrument geometry data that describes at least one geometric design parameter for each of the at least two medical instruments;
• automatically determining, by the processor of the computer system, entry region data based on the patient image data, the position and geometry of the target region, and the instrument geometry data, wherein the entry region data describes a shape and position of an insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient defining an entry region for receiving the insertion of the at least two medical instruments into the anatomical body part of the patient for treating the target region in the patient's body using the at least two medical instruments, wherein the entry region is defined as:
• i) a single coherent region of the insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient described by the medical patient image, the single coherent region of the insertion area having a finite extent defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points, or
• ii) a plurality of distinct regions of the insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient described by the medical patient image, each of the plurality of distinct regions having finite extents defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points;
• automatically determining, by the processor of the computer system, a contour of the entry region based on:
• i) a contour of the target region, and ii) positions of one or more risk structures to be avoided by the at least two medical instruments;
• and
• automatically determining, by the processor of the computer system, control data based on the entry region data, wherein the control data describes at least one command to be issued to the robotic device for positioning the at least one end effector to allow for introduction of at least one of the at least two medical instruments into the anatomical body part in accordance with the entry region data.

A non-transient memory device storing program logic thereon that when the program logic is executed by a processor device of a computer causes the computer to perform a computer-implemented medical method of planning an entry region for an insertion of at least two medical instruments into an anatomical body part of a patient, the method comprising:

• acquiring patient image data at the processor device of the computer, wherein the patient image data describes a medical patient image of at least a part of the patient's body including a surface of the anatomical body part;
• acquiring target region data at the processor device of the computer, wherein the target region data describes a position and a geometry of a target region in the patient's body, wherein the target region defines a region in the patient's body that is to be treated by using the at least two medical instruments;
• acquiring instrument geometry data at the processor device of the computer, wherein the instrument geometry data describes at least one geometric design parameter for each of the at least two medical instruments;
• and
• automatically determining by the processor device of the computer entry region data based on the patient image data, the position and geometry of the target region, and the instrument geometry data, wherein the entry region data describes a shape and position of an insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient defining the entry region for receiving the insertion of the at least two medical instruments into the anatomical body part of the patient for treating the target region in the patient's body using the at least two medical instruments;
• automatically determining, by the processor of the computer system, a contour of the entry region based on:
• i) a contour of the target region, and ii) positions of one or more risk structures to be avoided by the at least two medical instruments,
• wherein the entry region is defined as:
• i) a single coherent region of the insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient described by the medical patient image, the single coherent region of the insertion area having a finite extent defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points, or ii) a plurality of distinct regions of the insertion area on the surface of the anatomical body part of the patient described by the medical patient image, each of the plurality of distinct regions having finite extents defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points.

A medical system for planning an entry region for an insertion of at least two medical devices into an anatomical body part of a patient, the medical system comprising:

• at least one computer comprising a processor device;
• at least one electronic data storage device storing entry region data and target region data representative of a geometry of a target region in an associated patient;
• and
• a robotic device operable to insert at least one of the at least two medical devices into the anatomical body part of the associated patient,
• wherein the at least one computer is operably coupled with:
• the at least one electronic data storage device for:
• acquiring, from the at least one data storage device, at least the entry and target region data;
• determining, by the processor device of the computer system, a contour of an entry region based on:
• i) a contour of the target region, and ii) positions of one or more risk structures to be avoided by the at least two medical instruments wherein the entry region is defined as:
• i) a single coherent region of the surface of the anatomical body part described by the medical patient image, the single coherent region having a finite extent defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points, or ii) a plurality of distinct regions of the surface of the anatomical body part described by the medical patient image, each of the plurality of distinct regions having finite extents defined by a plurality of spaced apart medical treatment instrument insertion points;
• and
• the robotic device for issuing a control signal to the robotic device for controlling operation of the robotic device based on the entry and target region data.