Systems and methods for guided manipulation of the shape of a surgical implant

A method of providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the method comprising:

• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing a tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• employing the tracking system to track a position and an orientation of the rod bender;
• and
• providing guidance for forming at least one bend of the set of bends by:
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the rod bender to generate and display real-time augmented reality images comprising an augmented reality image annotation, the augmented reality image annotation being pinned to the tracked position of the rod bender and generated such that after the surgical rod is bent to the prescribed bend angle associated with the bend, the surgical rod spatially overlaps with the augmented reality image annotation within at least a region proximal to the bend.

A method of providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the method comprising:

• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing a tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod, the surgical rod extending from the first location along a rod axis;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate and display real-time augmented reality images, the real-time augmented reality images comprising augmented reality image annotations indicating the prescribed bend locations along the rod axis, such that when the bends are formed in a unidirectional sequence of bends beginning from a bend that lies at a furthest distal location relative to the first trackable reference frame, the augmented reality image annotations on a proximal side of a given bend show the locations along the remaining unbent portion of the surgical rod for forming the remaining bends;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.

A method of providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a prescribed bend angle at a prescribed bend location, the method comprising:

• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend location along the surgical rod;
• employing a tracking system to track:
• an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• and
• an orientation of a second trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a second location, the second location being remote from the first location such that the prescribed bend location resides between the first location and the second location on the surgical rod;
• and
• employing the tracked orientation of the first trackable reference frame and the orientation of the second trackable reference frame to determine a measured bend angle of the surgical rod during or after bending of the surgical rod by the rod bender;
• and
• employing the measured bend angle to provide bend angle feedback suitable for determining when the surgical rod has been bent to the prescribed bend angle.

A method of providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod, the method comprising:

• employing a tracking system to track a position and an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate real-time augmented reality images comprising a target rod contour having a first end pinned to the first location and an orientation determined based on the first trackable reference frame;
• displaying the augmented reality images;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.

A system for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the system comprising:

• a tracking system;
• and
• control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said tracking system, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, the memory comprising instructions executable by said at least one processor for performing operations comprising:
• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing said tracking system to track:
• an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• and
• an orientation of a second trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a second location, the second location being remote from the first location such that the prescribed bend locations reside between the first location and the second location on the surgical rod;
• and
• providing guidance for forming at least one bend of the set of bends by:
• employing the tracked orientation of the first trackable reference frame and the orientation of the second trackable reference frame to determine a measured bend angle of the surgical rod during or after bending of the surgical rod by the rod bender;
• and
• employing the measured bend angle to provide bend angle feedback suitable for determining when the surgical rod has been bent to the prescribed bend angle associated with the bend.

A system for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the system comprising:

• a tracking system;
• and
• control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said tracking system, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, the memory comprising instructions executable by said at least one processor for performing operations comprising:
• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing said tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• employing said tracking system to track a position and an orientation of the rod bender;
• and
• providing guidance for forming at least one bend of the set of bends by:
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the rod bender to generate and display real-time augmented reality images comprising an augmented reality image annotation, the augmented reality image annotation being pinned to the tracked position of the rod bender and generated such that after the surgical rod is bent to the prescribed bend angle associated with the bend, the surgical rod spatially overlaps with the augmented reality image annotation within at least a region proximal to the bend.

A system for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the system comprising:

• a tracking system;
• a display device;
• and
• control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said tracking system and said display device, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, the memory comprising instructions executable by said at least one processor for performing operations comprising:
• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing said tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod, the surgical rod extending from the first location along a rod axis;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate and display on said display device real-time augmented reality images, the real-time augmented reality images comprising augmented reality image annotations indicating the prescribed bend locations along the rod axis, such that when the bends are formed in a unidirectional sequence of bends beginning from a bend that lies at a furthest distal location relative to the first trackable reference frame, the augmented reality image annotations on a proximal side of a given bend show the locations along the remaining unbent portion of the surgical rod for forming the remaining bends;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.

A system for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the system comprising:

• a tracking system;
• a display device;
• and
• control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said tracking system and said display device, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, the memory comprising instructions executable by said at least one processor for performing operations comprising:
• controlling said tracking system to track a position and an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate real-time augmented reality images comprising a target rod contour having a first end pinned to the first location and an orientation determined based on the first trackable reference frame;
• displaying the augmented reality images on said display device;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a processor for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the storage medium comprising instructions for performing operations including:

• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• controlling a tracking system to track:
• an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• and
• an orientation of a second trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a second location, the second location being remote from the first location such that the prescribed bend locations reside between the first location and the second location on the surgical rod;
• and
• providing guidance for forming at least one bend of the set of bends by:
• employing the tracked orientation of the first trackable reference frame and the orientation of the second trackable reference frame to determine a measured bend angle of the surgical rod during or after bending of the surgical rod by the rod bender;
• and
• employing the measured bend angle to provide bend angle feedback suitable for determining when the surgical rod has been bent to the prescribed bend angle associated with the bend.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a processor for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the storage medium comprising instructions for performing operations including:

• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing a tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod;
• employing said tracking system to track a position and an orientation of the rod bender;
• and
• providing guidance for forming at least one bend of the set of bends by:
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the rod bender to generate and display real-time augmented reality images comprising an augmented reality image annotation, the augmented reality image annotation being pinned to the tracked position of the rod bender and generated such that after the surgical rod is bent to the prescribed bend angle associated with the bend, the surgical rod spatially overlaps with the augmented reality image annotation within at least a region proximal to the bend.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a processor for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the storage medium comprising instructions for performing operations including:

• obtaining bend parameters for bending the surgical rod according to a set of bends that approximate the target rod contour, the bend parameters comprising prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod and corresponding prescribed bend angles;
• providing positioning information suitable for positioning the rod bender at the prescribed bend locations along the surgical rod;
• employing a tracking system to track an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location on the surgical rod, the surgical rod extending from the first location along a rod axis;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate and display on a display device real-time augmented reality images, the real-time augmented reality images comprising augmented reality image annotations indicating the prescribed bend locations along the rod axis, such that when the bends are formed in a unidirectional sequence of bends beginning from a bend that lies at a furthest distal location relative to the first trackable reference frame, the augmented reality image annotations on a proximal side of a given bend show the locations along the remaining unbent portion of the surgical rod for forming the remaining bends;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a processor for providing guidance for positioning and actuating a rod bender to bend a surgical rod according to a target rod contour, the storage medium comprising instructions for performing operations including:

• controlling a tracking system to track a position and an orientation of a first trackable reference frame secured to the surgical rod at a first location;
• employing the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame to generate real-time augmented reality images comprising a target rod contour having a first end pinned to the first location and an orientation determined based on the first trackable reference frame;
• displaying the augmented reality images on a display device;
• and
• updating the augmented reality images, during bending of the surgical rod, based on the tracked position and orientation of the first trackable reference frame, thereby providing augmented-reality-based visual guidance for bending the surgical rod according to the target rod contour.