System, Method And Software Program For Aiding In Positioning Of Objects In A Surgical Environment

A non-transitory computer readable medium usable with a surgical system, the surgical system including a tracker coupled to a surgical object, a camera having a field of view and being configured to sense positions and orientations of the tracker in the field of view, a display device, and one or more processors, comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to:

• define an acceptable orientation range for the tracker relative to an orientation of the camera, the acceptable orientation range concerning an angle difference between the tracker and camera;
• acquire positions and orientations of the tracker within the field of view;
• and
• execute a graphical user interface to aid in positioning the camera and the surgical object relative to one another, and wherein the graphical user interface is configured to present, on the display device:
• a graphical representation of the field of view;
• a shape object indicative of a current position of the tracker relative to the graphical representation of the field of view;
• a current angle difference between the tracker and the camera;
• a first visual feedback in response to the current angle difference being within the acceptable orientation range, the first visual feedback being a solid-fill coloring of the shape object;
• and
• a second visual feedback in response to the current angle difference being outside of the acceptable orientation range, the second visual feedback being a coloring of a perimeter of the shape object.

A computer-implemented method of operating a surgical system, the surgical system including a tracker coupled to a surgical object, a camera having a field of view and being configured to sense positions and orientations of the tracker in the field of view, a display device, and one or more controllers coupled to the camera and the display device, the method comprising the one or more controllers:

• defining an acceptable orientation range for the tracker relative to an orientation of the camera, the acceptable orientation range concerning an angle difference between the tracker and camera;
• acquiring, from the camera, positions and orientations of the tracker within the field of view;
• and
• executing a graphical user interface to aid in positioning the camera and the surgical object relative to one another, and the graphical user interface presenting, on the display device:
• a graphical representation of the field of view;
• a shape object indicative of a current position of the tracker relative to the graphical representation of the field of view;
• a current angle difference between the tracker and the camera;
• a solid-fill coloring of the shape object in response to the current angle difference being within the acceptable orientation range;
• and
• a coloring of a perimeter of the shape object in response to the current angle difference being outside of the acceptable orientation range.