Apparatus and method for registering a bone of a patient with a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system

A method of registering a bony anatomy of a patient with a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system, the method comprising:

• coupling a first magnetic source and a second magnetic source to the bony anatomy of the patient;
• positioning a first magnetic sensor array in a magnetic field of the first magnetic source;
• positioning a second magnetic sensor array in a magnetic field of the second magnetic source;
• determining first position data indicative of the position of the first magnetic source relative to the first magnetic sensor array and second position data indicative of the position of the second magnetic source relative to the second magnetic sensor array;
• determining a first distance of translation of the first magnetic sensor array with respect to a reference point and a second distance of translation of the second magnetic sensor array with respect to the reference point;
• determining a first angle between the first magnetic sensor array and a reference axis and a second angle between the second magnetic sensor array and the reference axis;
• and
• transmitting the first and second position data, the first and second distances, and the first and second angles to a computer.

A method of registering a bony anatomy of a patient with a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system, the method comprising:

• coupling a first magnetic source to the bony anatomy;
• coupling a second magnetic source to the bony anatomy at an angle relative to the first magnetic source and at a distance from the first magnetic source such that a first magnetic field generated by the first magnetic source and a second magnetic field generated by the second magnetic source do not substantially interfere with each other;
• determining a first position of the first magnetic source using a first magnetic sensor array;
• determining a second position of the second magnetic source using a second magnetic sensor array;
• determining a third position of the first magnetic sensor array relative to a reference point;
• determining a fourth position of the second magnetic sensor array relative to the reference point;
• and
• creating a graphically rendered image of the bony anatomy based on the first, second, third, and fourth positions.