Method, system and apparatus for maintaining patient registration in a surgical navigation system

A computing device for maintaining patient registration, the computing device comprising a processor coupled with a communications interface, the communications interface coupled with an optical scanner and a medical imaging device, and the processor configured to:

• obtain a position of a patient in a tracking system frame of reference based on a fiducial marker array affixed in a first position relative to the patient;
• receive an initial surface scan of the patient and the fiducial marker array in the first position from the optical scanner,
• receive an intermediate surface scan of the patient prior to receiving an intraoperative image from the medical imaging device;
• determine a further position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference based on a comparison of the intermediate surface scan and the initial surface scan by:
• registering the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference,
• registering the initial surface scan to the intermediate surface scan,
• determining a virtual position for the fiducial marker array based on the registration of the initial surface scan with the intermediate surface scan, and
• determine the further position of the patient based on the virtual position;
• obtain a position of the medical imaging device in the tracking system frame of reference;
• and
• select an imaging configuration based on a comparison of the further position and the position of the medical imaging device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions executable by a computing device comprising a processor for maintaining patient registration, the plurality of instructions configuring the processor to:

• obtain a position of a patient in a tracking system frame of reference based on a fiducial marker array affixed in a first position relative to the patient;
• receive an initial surface scan from the surface scanner of the patient and the fiducial marker array in the first position;
• receive an intermediate surface scan of the patient prior to receiving an intraoperative image from a medical imaging device;
• determine a further position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference based on a comparison of the intermediate surface scan and the initial surface scan by:
• registering the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference,
• registering the initial surface scan to the intermediate surface scan,
• determining a virtual position for the fiducial marker array based on the registration of the initial surface scan with the intermediate surface scan, and
• determining the further position of the patient based on the virtual position;
• obtain a position of the medical imaging device in the tracking system frame of reference;
• and select an imaging configuration based on a comparison of the further position and the position of the medical imaging device.