System and method for surgical navigation cross-reference to related applications

A portable medical navigation system for use with at least one electromagnetic sensor and at least one device comprising:

• a portable computer having a small footprint;
• a navigation interface housed in the portable computer and configured to receive digitized signals from at least one electromagnetic sensor;
• at least one electromagnetic field generator coupled to the at least one device;
• a tracker module configured to determine a location of the at least one device based on the received digitized signals;
• and
• a navigation module configured to receive the location determined by the tracker module, and register the location to acquired patient image data.

A method for operating a medical navigation system with at least one electromagnetic sensor and at least one device, the method comprising:

• receiving digitized signals from at least one electromagnetic sensor through an interface;
• determining a location of at least one device based on the received digitized signals;
• and
• registering the location to acquired patient image data.

A portable medical navigation system for use with at least one electromagnetic sensor and at least one device comprising:

• a portable computer having a small footprint;
• a navigation interface housed in the portable computer and configured to receive digitized signals from at least one electromagnetic sensor;
• at least one electromagnetic field generator coupled to the at least one device;
• a first processor housed in the portable computer and configured to determine a location of at least one device based on the received digitized signals;
• and
• a second processor housed in the portable computer and configured to receive the location determined by the first processor over a local interface, and register the location to acquired patient image data.