Flexible tracking article and method of using the same

• US 20040147839A1
• Filed: 10/25/2002
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Original Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Inventors: Moctezuma de la Barrera, Jose Luis, Malackowski, Donald W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,869,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/429
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00716 simulating physical properties
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/105 Modelling of the patient, e.g. for ligaments or bones
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2055 Optical tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2057 Details of tracking cameras
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2072 Reference field transducer attached to an instrument or patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3983 Reference marker arrangements for use with image guided surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/20 Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis

Abstract

A method of registering an article having a surface to previously created scan data of the article includes the steps of providing a flexible substrate having multiple tracking points attached to the substrate, applying the substrate to the article to be registered, creating a model of the surface of the article from a location of each tracking point; and registering the model with the previously created scan data. A method of creating a model of a surface having a shape and an article to enable the creation of a model of a surface are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of registering an article having a surface to previously created scan data of the article, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a flexible substrate having multiple tracking points attached to the substrate;

applying the substrate to the article to be registered;

creating a model of the surface of the article from a location of each tracking point; and

registering the model with the previously created scan data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the previously created scan data is presurgical scan data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein there are at least 10 tracking points.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is used to track surgical implements using a computer assisted surgical navigation system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the tracking points are optical.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the tracking points are light emitting diodes.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is adhesively applied to the article.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the article is a portion of human anatomy.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the human anatomy is forehead and nose

10. The method of claim 1 wherein there are at least 25 tracking points.

11. The method of claim 1 including the additional step of trimming the flexible substrate to fit the article without deactivating any tracking points remaining attached to the flexible substrate.

12. A method of creating a model of a surface having a shape, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a flexible substrate having multiple tracking points attached to the substrate;

attaching the flexible substrate to the surface;

determining a location for each tracking point; and

calculating the shape of the surface from the location of each tracking point.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein there are at least 10 tracking points.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the method is used to track surgical implements using a computer assisted surgical navigation system

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the tracking points are optical.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the tracking points are light emitting diodes.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the substrate is adhesively applied to the article.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the article is a portion of human anatomy.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the human anatomy is a forehead and nose

20. The method of claim 12 wherein there are at least 25 tracking points.

21. The method of claim 12 including the additional step of trimming the flexible substrate to fit the surface without deactivating any tracking points remaining attached to the flexible substrate.

22. An article to enable the creation of a model of a surface comprising:

a flexible substrate;

multiple tracking points attached to the flexible substrate at predetermined locations, wherein the tracking points can be tracked by a tracking system; and

a data link to enable communication from the flexible substrate to a tracking system.

23. The article of claim 22 wherein the tracking points are on the surface of the substrate.

24. The article of claim 22 wherein the tracking system is a computer assisted surgical navigation system.

25. The article of claim 22 wherein the flexible substrate includes an adhesive layer to attach the substrate to an article.

26. The article of claim 22 wherein the substrate is shaped to fit a portion of human anatomy.

27. The article of claim 26 wherein the portion of human anatomy is the nose and forehead.

28. The article of claim 22 wherein the tracking points are arranged so that the flexible substrate can be trimmed to fit the surface without deactivating any tracking points that remain attached to the flexible substrate.

29. The article of claim 22 wherein the tracking points are optical.

30. The article of claim 29 wherein the tracking points are light emitting diodes.

31. The article of claim 30 wherein the light emitting diodes are connected to a power source by flexible conductive circuits.

32. The article of claim 31 wherein the flexible conductive circuits are arranged so that the flexible substrate can be trimmed to fit the surface without deactivating any light emitting diodes that remain attached to the flexible substrate

33. The article of claim 32 wherein the power source is a battery.

34. The article of claim 22 wherein there are at least 10 tracking points.

35. The article of claim 30 wherein there are at least 10 tracking points.

36. The article of claim 22 wherein there are at least 25 tracking points.

37. The article of claim 22 wherein the data link is an infrared communication transceiver.

38. An article to enable the creation of a model of a surface comprising:

a flexible substrate;

multiple light emitting diodes attached to the substrate at predetermined locations, wherein

each light emitting diode is in a fixed relation to its neighboring light emitting diodes; and

a data link to enable communication from the flexible substrate to an optical tracking system.

39. The article of claim 38 wherein the tracking system is a computer assisted surgical navigation system.

40. The article of claim 38 wherein the flexible substrate includes an adhesive layer to attach the substrate to an article.

41. The article of claim 38 wherein the substrate is shaped to fit a portion of human anatomy.

42. The article of claim 41 wherein the portion of human anatomy is the nose and forehead.

43. The article of claim 38 wherein the light emitting diodes are connected to a power source by flexible conductive circuits.

44. The article of claim 43 wherein the flexible conductive circuits are arranged so that the flexible substrate can be trimmed to fit the surface without deactivating any light emitting diodes that remain attached to the flexible substrate

45. The article of claim 44 wherein the power source is a battery.

46. The article of claim 38 wherein there are at least 10 light emitting diodes.

47. The article of claim 38 wherein there are at least 25 light emitting diodes.

48. The article of claim 38 wherein the data link is an infrared communication transceiver.