Intraoperative navigation updating

• US 20010007918A1
• Filed: 01/08/2001
• Published: 07/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brainlab AG
• Original Assignee: Brainlab AG
• Inventors: Vilsmeier, Stefan, Frohlich, Stephan
• Granted Patent: US 6,609,022 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/426
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/374 NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3945 Active visible markers, e.g. light emitting diodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3954 magnetic, e.g. NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3979 infrared
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/20 Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/36 Image-producing devices or illumination devices not otherwise provided for

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for supporting the treatment of a patient, of which a patient data record was made available by an image-generating method, by means of a navigation system, the navigation system detecting and tracking the positions of the patient, of his/her parts of the body, and particularly of the target of the treatment and the treatment devices, wherein, either automatically or on demand, either one or several further current patient data records are created by means of an image-generating method, and wherein each current data record is integrated into the navigation system in a computer-aided manner.

Claims

1. A method for supporting the treatment of a patient, of which a patient data record was made available by an image-generating method, by means of a navigation system, said navigation system detecting and tracking the positions of the patient, of his/her parts of the body, and particularly of the target of the treatment and the treatment devices, wherein, either automatically or on demand, either one or several further current patient data records are created by means of an image-generating method, and wherein each current data record is integrated into the navigation system in a computer-aided manner.

2. The method as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein the one or the several further patient data records are created either by means of magnetic resonance tomography (MR), computer tomography (CT) or a SPECT or PET method.

3. The method as set forth in

claim 1

or

2

, wherein a reference structure is fixed to the patient and/or near the target of treatment to create the current data record, said structure including markers which can be detected in the navigation system as well as markers which can be detected by the image-generating method, wherein the assignment of data for the markers causes positional integration of the current data record in the navigation system.

4. The method as set forth in

claim 1

or

2

, wherein a reference structure is fixed to the patient and/or near the target of treatment to create the current data record, said structure including markers which can be detected in the navigation system as well as by the image-generating method, wherein the assignment of data for the markers causes positional integration of the current data record in the navigation system.

5. The method as set forth in

claim 1

or

2

, wherein the current data record is assigned to the data record to be updated by means of computer-aided, automatic, three-dimensional image fusion with regard to the position, referencing of the current data record in the navigation system occurring from the computed shift in position.

6. The method as set forth in

claim 5

, wherein the image fusion is solely based on those data record elements from the current data record and from the data record to be updated, which reflect no or only a restricted deformation of the detected part of the body.

7. The method as set forth in

claim 5

or

6

, wherein the image fusion comprises one or several of the following features:

it is based on a rigid transformation;

it is based on a search region consisting of all rigid transformations (rotation, translation) between two data records;

it is searched for that transformation in the search region that brings the data records into conformity with each other;

the quality of transformations is measured with regard to a criterion of conformity, that is computed from the correlation of intensity of a great number of corresponding pixels in both data records;

the suitable transformation is determined by solving an optimization problem looking for a transformation parameter record for which the criterion of conformity reaches a maximum value;

the suitable transformation is determined stepwise by using more and more image data in the steps following later so as to improve conformity in an iterative manner;

as few determinations of the criterion of conformity as possible are performed.

8. The method as set forth in one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the means for performing the image-generating method while the current data record is being detected by markers, which can be detected by the navigation system, is referenced by the navigation system and the position of the current data record is thus integrated.

9. The method as set forth in

claim 8

, wherein the relative position of the current data record is determined with regard to the means for performing the image-generating method by means of a specific, given detection of coordinates.