Surgical instrument path computation and display for endoluminal surgery

• US 20080097155A1
• Filed: 09/18/2006
• Published: 04/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Original Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Inventors: Gattani, Abhishek, Hameed, Salmaan
• Granted Patent: US 7,945,310 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/117
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/018 for receiving instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/042 characterised by a proximal camera, e.g. a CCD camera
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/105 Modelling of the patient, e.g. for ligaments or bones
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/107 Visualisation of planned trajectories or target regions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2051 Electromagnetic tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2055 Optical tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/367 creating a 3D dataset from 2D images using position information
• 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 5/065 Determining position of the probe employing exclusively positioning means located on or in the probe, e.g. using position sensors arranged on the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/361 Image-producing devices, e.g. surgical cameras

Abstract

An endoscopic surgical navigation system comprises a path correlation module that can compute the path taken by an endoscope scope or other medical instrument during endoscopic medical procedure and various related attributes and parameters, and can compute and display a correlation between two paths.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

automatically tracking a current position of a surgical instrument during an endoscopic procedure;

generating data indicative of the current position of the surgical instrument for a plurality of positions of the surgical instrument during the endoscopic procedure;

storing said data as a dataset representing a path taken by the surgical instrument during the endoscopic procedure; and

causing an indication of the path to be displayed to a user based on the dataset.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transforming the data indicative of the positions of the surgical instrument along the path into graphic model parameters to enable the path to be rendered and displayed to a user.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a correlation between the path and a reference path; and

outputting an indication of the correlation to a user.

4. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein determining the correlation comprises:

determining a deviation of a position of the surgical instrument from the reference path.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a correlation between a first recorded path and a second recorded path of the surgical instrument; and

outputting an indication of the correlation to a user.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein determining the correlation comprises:

determining a deviation between the first and second recorded paths of the surgical instrument.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

during the endoscopic procedure, identifying a landmark along the path and metadata associated with the landmark; and

transforming an associated position of the surgical instrument and said metadata into graphics primitives to allow rendering and display of data indicative of the associated position, orientation and the metadata.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

during the endoscopic procedure, computing a distance between the current position of the surgical instrument and a landmark along the path; and

causing an indication of the distance to be output to a user.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the surgical instrument is a flexible endoscope.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein automatically tracking the current position of the surgical instrument during an endoscopic procedure comprises automatically tracking the current position of a distal tip of the flexible endoscope.

11. A system comprising:

a tracking subsystem to automatically track a current position of an endoscope during an endoscopic procedure and to generate data indicative of the current position of the endoscope for a plurality of positions of the endoscope during the endoscopic procedure;

a path correlation module to determine a path taken by the endoscope during the endoscopic procedure, based on said data indicative of the current position of the endoscope for the plurality of positions of the endoscope, and to determine a correlation between the path and a reference path; and

a user interface subsystem to cause an indication of said correlation to be displayed to a user.

12. A system as recited in claim 11, wherein the path correlation module comprises:

logic to transform the data indicative of the positions of the endoscope instrument along the path into graphic model parameters to enable the path to be rendered and displayed to a user.

13. A system as recited in claim 11, wherein the path correlation module comprises:

logic to determine a deviation of a position of the endoscope from the reference path.

14. A system as recited in claim 11, wherein the path correlation module comprises:

logic to determine a correlation between a first recorded path and a second recorded path of the endoscope; and

logic to output an indication of the correlation to a user.

15. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the path correlation module comprises:

logic to determine a deviation between the first and second recorded paths of the endoscope.

16. A system as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

logic to identify, during the endoscopic procedure, a landmark along the path and metadata associated with the landmark; and

logic to transform an associated position of the endoscope and said metadata into graphics primitives to allow rendering and display of data indicative of the associated position, orientation and the metadata.

17. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

logic to compute, during the endoscopic procedure, a distance between the current position of the endoscope and a landmark along the path; and

logic to cause an indication of the distance to be output to a user.

18. An apparatus comprising:

means for automatically tracking a current position of a surgical instrument during an endoscopic procedure;

means for generating data indicative of the current position of the surgical instrument for a plurality of positions of the surgical instrument during the endoscopic procedure;

means for storing said data as a dataset representing a path taken by the surgical instrument during the endoscopic procedure; and

means for causing an indication of the path to be displayed to a user based on the dataset.

19. An apparatus as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

means for determining a correlation between the path and a reference path; and

means for outputting an indication of the correlation to a user.

20. A method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

means for determining a correlation between a first recorded path and a second recorded path of the surgical instrument; and

means for outputting an indication of the correlation to a user.