Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130131505 | SURGICAL LOCATION MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD USING SKIN APPLIED FIDUCIAL REFERENCE - The present invention involves a surgical monitoring system and method for modeling surgical procedures. A multi-element fiducial reference pattern observable by a tracker may be transferred directly to the skin proximate the surgical site, either through a stencil as a radio-opaque ink pattern or via transfer tape, or may be applied in prepared form on a surgical incise film. Alternatively the surgical incise film may be applied over the surgical site and the inked reference pattern applied to the film before surgery. A controller determines the three-dimensional location and orientation of the surgical site by comparing the position and orientation of the reference pattern in a prior scan with the position and orientation of the reference pattern in image information about the surgical site obtained from the tracker. The system may track the movement of instruments relative to the surgical site, or may be used to track changes in the surgical site itself. | 05-23-2013 |
20140126767 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL LOCATION AND ORIENTATION OF IDENTIFICATION MARKERS - A three-dimensional position and orientation tracking system comprises one or more pattern tags, each comprising a plurality of contrasting portions, a tracker for obtaining image information about the pattern tags, a database with geometric information describing patterns on pattern tags; and a controller for receiving and processing the image information from the tracker, accessing the database to retrieve geometric information, and comparing the image information with the geometric information. The contrasting portions are arranged in a rotationally asymmetric pattern and at least one of the contrasting portions on a pattern tag has a perimeter that has a mathematically describable curved section. The perimeter of the contrasting portion may comprise a conic section, including for example an ellipse or a circle. The tracking system can be implemented in a surgical monitoring system in which the pattern tags are attached to tracking markers or are themselves tracking markers. | 05-08-2014 |
20140128727 | SURGICAL LOCATION MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD USING NATURAL MARKERS - The present invention involves a surgical hardware and software monitoring system and method allows for surgical planning while the patient is available for surgery, for example while the patient is being prepared for surgery so that the system may model the surgical site. In one embodiment, the model may be used to track contemplated surgical procedures and warn the physician regarding possible boundary violations that would indicate an inappropriate location in a surgical procedure. In another embodiment, the monitoring system may track the movement of instruments during the procedure and in reference to the model to enhance observation of the procedure. | 05-08-2014 |
20140309523 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL EXTRACTION TRACKING FOR IMPLANT MODELING - A method for making an insert for a bone structure located within a surgical site comprises operating on the bone structure with a materials removing tool to remove materials from the bone structure; tracking in three dimensions the location and orientation of the bone structure; tracking in three dimensions the location and orientation of the working tip of the materials removing tool; creating a software model of the materials volume removed from the bone structure; and making the insert based on model data within the software model. An associated system comprises a controller and a tracker for tracking a 3-D tracking marker rigidly attached to the bone structure and a 3-D tracking marker rigidly attached to the materials removing tool. A manufacturing device is used to manufacture the insert based on the model data from the controller. | 10-16-2014 |
20140320600 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING NON-VISIBLE STRUCTURE OF A BODY - A monitoring system tracks the non-visible structure of a body in three dimensions. A tracker obtains image information of the object and instruments in its vicinity, all bearing 3D tracking markers. A controller spatially relates the image information with previously obtained scan data of the object revealing non-visible structure of the object. For the scan a fiducial reference detectable in the scan is removably attached to a location on the object. The scan data and image information is used by the controller to provide the user with real time information on the relative 3D locations and orientations of the instruments and the non-visible structure of the body. In a further embodiment the monitoring system may be used to model and track the changes in the body itself. In other embodiments, a model of the body and instruments is used to track contemplated actions and warn about possibly inappropriate instrument procedures. | 10-30-2014 |
20140343405 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING NON-VISIBLE STRUCTURES OF BODIES RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER - A monitoring system tracks the non-visible structure of a body and relatable non-visible structures in real time in three dimensions. A tracker obtains image information of the body and its vicinity. A controller spatially relates the image information with previously obtained scan data of the object revealing non-visible structure of the object. For the scan, a fiducial reference detectable in the scan is removably attached to a location on the object. The scan data and image information are used by the controller to provide the user with real time information about the relative 3D locations and orientations of the relatable non-visible structures and the non-visible structure of the body. Using three-dimensional tracking markers attached to the fiducial reference on the body and to the relatable non-visible structures, the system and method may be employed to track in three dimensions in real time a plurality of bodies having non-visible structure. Three-dimensional tracking markers intergrated with surgical screws may be attached directly to the relatable non-visible structures. | 11-20-2014 |
20150049238 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FOCUSING IMAGING DEVICES - A system and method for automatically focusing imaging devices on an imaging set employs at least one tracker and two or more tracking markers, each tracking marker having an identification means and a tracking pattern. The tracking markers are configured for attaching to the imaging devices and to corresponding subjects to be imaged. A tracker gathers image information of the imaging set and provides it to a controller, which compares the image information to predetermined stored information about the tracking patterns of the various tracking markers. The tracking markers are identified and their three-dimensional positions determined. The distances between the imaging devices and the subjects are determined and the distances between the imaging devices and the subjects are calculated. This provides the focus setting information for communication to the imaging devices. The tracking patterns may have no rotational symmetry, allowing the orientation of subjects to be determined. | 02-19-2015 |
20150119685 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL LOCATION AND ORIENTATlON OF IDENTIFICATION MARKERS - A three-dimensional position and orientation tracking system comprises one or more pattern tags, each comprising a plurality of contrasting portions, a tracker for obtaining image information about the pattern tags, a database with geometric information describing patterns on pattern tags; and a controller for receiving and processing the image information from the tracker, accessing the database to retrieve geometric information, and comparing the image information with the geometric information. The contrasting portions are arranged in a rotationally asymmetric pattern and at least one of the contrasting portions on a pattern tag has a perimeter that has a mathematically describable curved section. The pattern tags may be borne on tracking markers that have a three-dimensional shaped surface. The tracking system can be implemented in a surgical monitoring system in which the pattern tags are attached to tracking markers or are themselves tracking markers. A method associated with the system employs the rotationally asymmetric patterns on the tags to determine the three-dimensional locations and orientations of items bearing the tags using non-stereo image information. | 04-30-2015 |