Distal targeting of locking screws in intramedullary nails
First Claim
1. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
- a movable guide assembly for guiding an instrument toward a target;
a plurality of field generators in said guide assembly that generate known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
one or more sensors disposed at known locations with respect to said target that generate sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
a signal processor responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals for producing three location coordinates of a point on said guide assembly and two orientation coordinates of an axis of said guide assembly; and
a display responsive to said signal processor that provides an indication of a location of said point with respect to said target and of an alignment between said axis of said guide assembly and said axis of said target.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a distal targeting system a hand-held location pad is integral with a guide section for a drill or similar surgical instrument, and has a plurality of magnetic field generators. A sensor, such as a wireless sensor, having a plurality of field transponders, is disposed in an orthopedic appliance, such as an intramedullary nail. The sensor is capable of detecting and discriminating the strength and direction of the different fields generated by the field generators. Control circuitry, preferably located in the location pad is responsive to a signal of the sensor, and determines the displacement and relative directions of an axis of the guide section, and a bore in the orthopedic appliance. A screen display and optional speaker in the location pad provide an operator-perceptible indication that enables the operator to adjust the position of the guide section so as to align its position and direction with the bore.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a movable guide assembly for guiding an instrument toward a target;
a plurality of field generators in said guide assembly that generate known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
one or more sensors disposed at known locations with respect to said target that generate sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
a signal processor responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals for producing three location coordinates of a point on said guide assembly and two orientation coordinates of an axis of said guide assembly; and
a display responsive to said signal processor that provides an indication of a location of said point with respect to said target and of an alignment between said axis of said guide assembly and said axis of said target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a movable guide assembly for guiding the instrument toward the target;
a plurality of field generators in said guide assembly that generate known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
one or more sensors disposed at known locations with respect to said target that generate sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
a signal processor responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals for producing three location coordinates of a point on said guide assembly and two orientation coordinates of an axis of said guide assembly; and
a location pad attached to said guide assembly and moveable therewith, responsive to said signal processor that provides a quantitative indication of a distance and a location of said point with respect to said target and of an alignment between said axis of said guide assembly and said axis of said target. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a hand-held movable guide assembly for guiding the instrument toward the target;
a plurality of field generators in said guide assembly that generate known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
a plurality of sensors disposed at known locations with respect to said target that generate sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
a signal processor disposed in said guide assembly responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals for producing three location coordinates of a point on said guide assembly and two orientation coordinates of an axis of said guide assembly; and
a location pad disposed in said guide assembly, responsive to said signal processor that provides a quantitative indication of a distance and a location of said point with respect to said target and of an alignment between said axis of said guide assembly and said axis of said target, said location pad having a visual display for providing said quantitative indication. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a movable guide assembly for guiding the instrument toward the target;
a plurality of field generators in said guide assembly that generate known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
one or more sensors disposed at known locations with respect to said target that generate sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
a signal processor disposed in said guide assembly responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals having a first output responsive to a difference between a location of said target and a location of said guide assembly and second output responsive to a difference between a direction of an axis of said guide assembly and a direction of said axis of said target; and
a display disposed in said guide assembly responsive to said signal processor that provides a qualitative indication of said first output and said second output. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a movable guide assembly for guiding the instrument toward the target;
a magnet disposed at a known location with respect to said target and having a known alignment with an axis of said target;
a plurality of field detectors in said guide assembly producing field detector signals responsive to a field of said magnet;
a signal processor disposed in said guide assembly responsive to said field detector signals having outputs representative of a difference between a location of said target and a location of said guide assembly and a difference between a direction of an axis of said guide assembly and a direction of said axis of said target; and
a display disposed in said guide assembly responsive to said signal processor that provides a first indication of said difference between said location of said target and a second indication of said difference between said direction of said axis of said guide assembly. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A distal targeting system for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising:
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a movable guide assembly for guiding the instrument toward the target;
one or more first field elements in said guide assembly;
one or more second field elements disposed at known locations with respect to said target, said first field elements and said second field elements being sensors or field generators, wherein at least one of said first field elements and said second field elements is a said sensor, said field generators generating known distinguishable fields in response to drive signals, and said sensors producing sensor signals in response to said fields, said sensors having known alignments with an axis of said target;
one or more third field elements, said third field elements being said field generators;
a signal processor responsive to said drive signals and said sensor signals for producing three location coordinates of a point on said guide assembly and two orientation coordinates of an axis of said guide assembly; and
a display responsive to said signal processor that provides an indication of a location of said point with respect to said target and of an alignment between said axis of said guide assembly and said axis of said target. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A method for determining the location and orientation of an instrument relative to a target, comprising the steps of:
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generating one or more distinguishable fields;
sensing a strength and an orientation of each of said fields at known locations with respect to said target;
providing a movable hand-held guide assembly for directing said instrument to said target;
providing a display on said assembly, said display indicating a location of a point of said assembly relative to said target and of an alignment between an axis of said assembly and an axis of said target; and
after performing said step of sensing, calculating three location coordinates of said point relative to said target. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification