Method for determining the spatial position of objects

A computer implemented medical data processing method for determining the spatial position of medical objects in three-dimensional space, the method comprising executing, on at least one processor, of at least one computer, the steps of:

• acquiring at the processor and via a medical tracking system comprising a sensor array, first position data which comprise first position information describing a three-dimensional spatial position of an object within a first co-ordinate system positionally assigned to said sensor array which is configured to determine the three-dimensional spatial position of at least one tracking marker attached to the object;
• acquiring, at the processor, first transformation data which comprise first transformation information describing a transformation of the object's three-dimensional spatial position from the first co-ordinate system into a second co-ordinate system positionally assigned to an inertial sensor array which is attached to the medical tracking system's sensor array and configured to sense any motion of the medical tracking system's sensor array within a treatment room which accommodates the object;
• acquiring, at the processor and on the basis of the first position data and the first transformation data, second position data which comprise second position information describing the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the second co-ordinate system;
• acquiring, at the processor, second transformation data which comprise second transformation information describing a transformation of the object's three-dimensional spatial position from the second co-ordinate system into third co-ordinate system positionally assigned to the treatment room;
• determining, by the processor and on the basis of the second position data and the second transformation data, position data which comprise position information describing the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the third co-ordinate system.

A non-transitory computer-readable program storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed on a processor of a computer or leaded into the memory of a computer, causes the computer to perform a computer-implemented medical data processing method for determining the spatial position of medical objects in three-dimensional space, the data processing method comprising the steps of:

• acquiring, at the processor and via a medical tracking system comprising a sensor array, first position data which comprise first position information describing a three-dimensional spatial position of an object within a first co-ordinate system positionally assigned to said sensor array which is configured to determine the three-dimensional spatial position of at least one tracking marker attached to the object;
• acquiring, at the processor, first transformation data which comprise first transformation information describing a transformation of the object's three-dimensional spatial position from the first co-ordinate system into a second co-ordinate system positionally assigned to an inertial sensor array which is attached to the medical tracking system's sensor array and configured to sense any motion of the medical tracking system's sensor array within a treatment room which accommodates the object;
• acquiring, at the processor and on the basis of the first position data and the first transformation data, second position data which comprise second position information describing the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the second co-ordinate system;
• acquiring, at the processor, second transformation data which comprise second transformation information describing a transformation of the object's three-dimensional spatial position from the second co-ordinate system into a third co-ordinate system positionally assigned to the treatment room;
• determining, by the processor and on the basis of the second position data and the second transformation data, position data which comprise position information describing the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the third co-ordinate system.

A medical tracking system for determining a spatial position of medical objects within a three-dimensional space of a treatment room, comprising:

• a sensor array configured to determine a three-dimensional spatial position of an object within a first coordinate system, wherein the first coordinate system is defined relative to the sensor array;
• an inertial sensor array configured to detect motion of the sensor array relative to a global coordinate system associated with the treatment room;
• and
• a computer having at one processor configured to execute a computer program that configures the processor to:
• acquire, via the sensor array, first position information that indicates the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the first coordinate system;
• acquire first transformation information that describes a transformation from the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system, wherein the second coordinate system is defined relative to the inertial sensor array;
• transform the three-dimensional spatial position of the object from the first coordinate system to the second coordinate system based on the first position information and the first transformation information;
• acquire second transformation information that describes a transformation from the second coordinate system to the global coordinate system based on motion detected by the inertial sensor array;
• and
• determine global position information that describes the three-dimensional spatial position of the object within the global coordinate system of the treatment room.