System for determining a position of a point on an object
AssigneeHowmedica Osteonics Corp.
InventorsJohn Michael Green, II, Jose Luis Moctezuma de la Barrera
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for determining a global position of an anatomical structure. The system utilizes a surgical navigation system and a substrate that is capable of being removably mounted to an outer surface of a user's body. The substrate includes a positional device and a sensor that is tracked by the surgical navigation system. A finger mounted structure capable of communicating with the positional device is also provided. The concatenation of a position of the sensor and a position of the finger mounted structure allows a global position of a point on the anatomical structure to be determined by a computer system.
Claims124
A system for determining a global position of an anatomical structure of a patient's body, comprising:
- a surgical navigation system;
- a substrate adapted to be removably mounted to an outer surface of a user's body;
- a sensor attached to the substrate that can be tracked by the surgical navigation system to determine a position of the sensor;
- a positional device attached to the substrate;
- a structure adapted to be mounted to a finger of the user, wherein the structure is movable in relation to the sensor and the structure is adapted to be placed adjacent to a point on the anatomical structure, and wherein the positional device is adapted to determine a relative position of the structure in relation to the positional device;
- and
- a first circuit for calculating a global position of the point on the anatomical structure by concatenating the position of the sensor and the relative position of the structure.
A method for determining a position of a point on an anatomical structure of a patient using a surgical navigation system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a surgical navigation system;
- mounting a substrate in a removable manner to an outer surface of a user's body, the substrate having a positional device and a sensor that can be detected by the surgical navigation system to determine a position of the sensor;
- covering a fingertip of the user with a finger mounted structure, wherein the finger mounted structure is movable in relation to the sensor, and wherein the positional device is adapted to determine a relative position of the finger mounted structure with respect to the positional device;
- placing the finger mounted structure on the point of the anatomical structure to be determined;
- calculating the relative position of the finger mounted structure in relation to the positional device;
- and
- determining a global position of the point by concatenating the position of the sensor and the relative position of the finger mounted structure.
A system for determining a global position of an object, comprising:
- a navigation system;
- a substrate comprising a glove adapted to be mounted to an outer surface of a user's body;
- a sensor attached to the substrate that can be tracked by the navigation system to determine a position of the sensor;
- a positional device attached to the substrate;
- a structure mounted to a finger of the glove, wherein the structure is movable in relation to the sensor and the structure is adapted to be placed adjacent to a point on the object, and wherein the positional device is adapted to determine a relative position of the structure in relation to the positional device;
- and
- a first circuit for calculating a global position of the point on the object by concatenating the position of the sensor and the relative position of the structure.
A method for determining a position of a point on an object using a surgical navigation system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a surgical navigation system;
- mounting a glove on a user's hand, the glove having a positional device that determines a position of a point on the object and a sensor that can be detected by the surgical navigation system to determine a position of the sensor;
- disposing a finger mounted structure on a finger of the glove capable of communicating with the positional device to determine a relative position of the structure in relation to the positional device, wherein the finger mounted structure is movable in relation to the sensor;
- placing the finger mounted structure on the point of the object to be determined;
- and
- determining a global position of the point by concatenating the position of the sensor and the relative position of the structure.
An apparatus for determining a position of a point on an anatomical structure, comprising:
- a surgical navigation system;
- a glove adapted to be mounted on a hand of a user;
- a sensor attached to the glove that can be tracked by the surgical navigation system to determine a position of the sensor;
- a magnetic tracker attached to the glove;
- a structure comprising a magnetic sensor mounted to a finger of the glove, wherein the magnetic sensor is movable in relation to the sensor and the magnetic sensor is adapted to be placed adjacent to a point on the anatomical structure, and wherein the magnetic tracker determines a relative position of the magnetic sensor;
- a first circuit for calculating a global position of the point on the anatomical structure by concatenating the position of the sensor and the relative position of the magnetic sensor.
A method for determining a position of a point on an anatomical structure through a small incision opening using a surgical navigation system, wherein the point is obstructed from the incision, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a surgical navigation system;
- mounting a substrate in a removable manner to an outer surface of a user's body;
- covering a tip of the user's finger with a finger mounted pointer having a rigid tip, the finger mounted pointer being capable of communicating with an external positional device mounted on the substrate, the external positional device being associated with a sensor mounted on the substrate that can be detected by the surgical navigation system, and wherein the finger mounted pointer is movable in relation to the sensor;
- manipulating the finger mounted pointer so that the rigid tip is in contact with the point to be determined;
- determining the relative position of the finger mounted pointer in relation to the sensor with the external positional device;
- determining the global position of the sensor;
- and
- determining the global position of the point by concatenating the relative position of the finger mounted pointer and the global position of the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.