Pointing device for medical imaging
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorHolger Timinger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a pointing device (40) for indicating the spatial position of markers (2) to a localization system (10). The pointing device (40) comprises a sensor (42) that detects if a definite interaction with the marker (2) takes place. The sensor (42) may for example be a pressure sensor (42) that determines if the contact force exceeds a threshold which could lead to undesired shifts of the marker (2). The pointing device (40) is used to determine the spatial coordinates of the marker (2), which can then be registered with the image coordinates of the marker (2) in a stored image, e.g. a CT-image.
Claims21
1-11. (canceled)
A pointing device (40) for indicating the spatial position of a marker (2) to a tracking device (10), the pointing device (40) comprising:
- a) a tip (41) that can be located by the tracking device (10);
- b) a sensor (42) for detecting the occurrence of a definite interaction between said tip and the marker (2).
A localization system for determining the spatial coordinates (x,y,z) of a marker (2), the localization system comprising
- a) a tracking device (10);
- and
- b) a pointing device (40) for indicating the spatial position of the marker (2) to the tracking device (10),
- the pointing device (40) comprising a tip (41) capable of being located by the tracking device (10) and a sensor (42) for detecting the occurrence of a definite interaction between said tip and the marker (2).
An investigation apparatus, comprising:
- a) an imaging system (20) for generating an image (1) of a region of interest comprising at least one marker (2);
- b) a localization system (10) for determining the spatial coordinates (x,y,z) of the marker (2);
- and
- c) a data processing system (30) for determining the image coordinates (xI,yI,zI) of the marker (2) in the image (I) and for registering them with the spatial coordinates (x,y,z) determined by the localization system,
- wherein the localization system includes a tracking device (10) and a pointing device (40) for indicating the spatial position of the marker (2) to the tracking device (10), the pointing device (40) comprising a tip (41) capable of being located by the tracking device (10) and a sensor (42) for detecting the occurrence of a definite interaction between said tip and the marker (2).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.