VISUALIZING SURGICAL TRAJECTORIES

• US 20120120091A1
• Filed: 07/13/2010
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Bergtholdt, Martin, Schulz, Heinrich, Martens, Hubert Cecile Francois, Koudijs, Johannes Cornelis, Bloem, Gerrit-jan, Kleibeuker, Johan Gerard
• Granted Patent: US 9,993,311 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/589
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/107 Visualisation of planned trajectories or target regions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/10 Computer-aided planning, simulation or modelling of surgical operations
• 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 90/10 for stereotaxic surgery, e.g. frame-based stereotaxis

Abstract

A method and system are provided for visualizing a surgical path (31, 41, 51) for a surgical tool. The method comprises a step of receiving (21) anatomical information (14) about a position of at least one anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35) in a region to undergo surgery, geometric information (15) describing the surgical path (31, 41, 51) and at least one safety margin defining a minimal distance between the surgical tool and the anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35). The method further comprises defining (23) a critical segment (43, 44, 45) of the surgical path (31, 41, 51), in which critical segment (43, 44, 45) a distance to the anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35) is smaller than the safety margin. Then a graphical representation (30, 40, 50) of the surgical path (31, 41, 51) is provided (24), wherein the critical segment (43, 44, 45) is highlighted.

Claims

1. A method of visualizing a surgical path (31, 41, 51) for a surgical tool, the method comprising:

receiving (21);

anatomical information (14) about a position of at least one anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35) in a region to undergo surgery,

geometric information (15) describing the surgical path (31, 41, 51), and

at least one safety margin defining a minimal distance between the surgical tool and the anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35),

defining (23) a critical segment (43, 44, 45) of the surgical path (31, 41, 51), in which critical segment (43, 44, 45) a distance to the anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35) is smaller than the safety margin, and

providing (24) a graphical representation (30, 40, 50) of the surgical path (31, 41, 51), wherein the critical segment (43, 44, 45) is highlighted.

2. A method of visualizing a surgical path (51) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving (21) at least one surgical tool restriction,

defining (23) a restricted segment (52) of the surgical path (51), in which restricted segment (52) the surgical path (51) does not meet the surgical tool restriction, and

highlighting (24) the restricted (52) segment in the graphical representation (50) of the surgical path (51).

3. A method of visualizing a surgical path (61, 112, 114) as claimed in claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving (21) an image (60) of a region to undergo surgery, and

displaying (24) the image (60) together with the graphical representation of the surgical path (61).

4. A method of visualizing a surgical path (61, 112, 114) as claimed in claim 3, further comprising using image recognition techniques (22) for deriving the anatomical information from the image (60).

5. A method of visualizing a surgical path (61, 112, 114) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the graphical representation of the surgical path (61, 112, 114) is aligned with and displayed upon the image (60) of the region to undergo surgery.

6. A method of visualizing a surgical path (73, 91) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the graphical representation of the surgical path (73, 91) comprises a bar (71, 81), both ends of the bar (71, 81) representing a first point and a second point on the surgical path (73, 91), a position on the bar (71, 81) in between the ends representing a corresponding position on the surgical path (73, 91) in between the first point and the second point.

7. A method of visualizing a surgical path (73, 91) as claimed in claim 6, the first point being a start point of the surgical path (73, 91), the second point being a target point of the surgical path (73, 91).

8. A method of visualizing a surgical path (91) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the graphical representation further shows the safety margin (93).

9. A method of visualizing a surgical path as claimed in claim 1, wherein the critical segment (43, 44, 45, 113, 82, 83) is highlighted using a color coding, a color of the segment (43, 44, 45, 113, 82, 83) representing the anatomical structure (32, 33, 34, 35).

10. A method of visualizing a surgical path as claimed in claim 9, wherein an intensity of the color of the segment represents a closeness of the surgical path to the safety margin.

11. Method of visualizing a surgical path as claimed in claim 1, further comprising receiving a current position of the surgical tool during the surgery and wherein the graphical representation further shows the current position.

12. A computer program product, which program is operative to cause a processor to perform the method of claim 1.

13. A system for visualizing a surgical path for a surgical tool, the system comprising,

an input (12, 14, 15, 16) for receiving,

anatomical information about a position of at least one anatomical structure in a region to undergo surgery,

geometric information describing the surgical path, and

at least one safety margin defining a minimal distance between the surgical tool and the anatomical structure,

a processor (11) being operative to define a critical segment of the surgical path, in which critical segment a distance to the anatomical structure is smaller than the safety margin, and to generate a graphical representation of the surgical path wherein the critical segment is highlighted

an output (13) for providing the graphical representation.