Method And System For Aligning A Prosthesis During Surgery Using Active Sensors

• US 20140135658A1
• Filed: 11/04/2013
• Published: 05/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellijoint Surgical Inc.
• Original Assignee: Avenir Medical Inc.
• Inventors: Hladio, Andre Novomir, Bakirtzian, Armen Garo, Van Amerom, Uriah Lodewyk Antoine
• Granted Patent: US 10,441,435 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1666 for the acetabulum
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1707 using electromagnetic effects, e.g. with magnet and external sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1746 for the acetabulum
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/4609 of acetabular cups
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/4632 using computer-controlled surgery, e.g. robotic surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/4658 for measuring dimensions, e.g. length
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/4668 for measuring angles

Abstract

A method and system for determining the orientation of a surgical tool with respect to a bone of a patient are disclosed. The method includes defining a bone reference plane using a processor; receiving first information at the processor from a first active sensor attached to the bone at a location having a predetermined relationship with the plane, the first information relating to a movement of the first sensor and wherein changes in orientation to the plane are trackable through changes in orientation of the first sensor; receiving second information from a second active sensor attached to the surgical tool, the second information relating to a movement of the second sensor; and determining a three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the plane based on the first and second information. The reference plane may be defined from distances between at least three predetermined reference locations on the bone.

Claims

1. A system for determining an orientation of a surgical tool with respect to a bone of a patient, the system comprising:

a first active sensor sensing a movement of the first active sensor and transmitting first information relating to the movement of the first active sensor, the first active sensor adapted to be positioned on the bone at a sensor position having a predetermined relationship with respect to a reference plane for the bone and wherein changes in orientation to the reference plane are trackable through changes in orientation of the first active sensor;

a second active sensor sensing a movement of the second active sensor and transmitting second information relating to the movement of the second active sensor;

a surgical tool attached to the second active sensor; and

a processor in communication with the first and second sensors, the processor configured to;

define the reference plane;

receive the first information and second information; and

determine a three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the reference plane based on the first and second information.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display device to display the three dimensional orientation received from the processor.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the bone is a pelvis.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to determine an angle of abduction and an angle of anteversion based on the three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the reference plane.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the first active sensor is positioned on a portion of an iliac crest of the pelvis.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to define the reference plane based on distances between at least three predetermined reference locations on the bone.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to receive the distances from measurements determined using at least one pre-operative scan of the bone showing the at least three predetermined reference locations.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein at least two of the at least three predetermined reference locations are bony palpable landmarks.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first active sensor and second active sensor each comprise at least one accelerometer and at least one gyroscope.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to initialize the second active sensor relative to the first active sensor such that the first active sensor and second active sensor have a predetermined orientation with respect to each other.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a sensor positioning device for positioning the first active sensor at the sensor location.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the surgical tool is configured to attach a prosthetic to the bone.

13. A method for determining an orientation of a surgical tool with respect to a bone of a patient, the method comprising:

receiving first information at a processor from a first active sensor attached to the bone at a sensor location having a predetermined relationship with a reference plane for the bone, the first information relating to a movement of the first active sensor and wherein changes in orientation to the reference plane are trackable through changes in orientation of the first active sensor;

receiving second information at the processor from a second active sensor attached to the surgical tool, the second information relating to a movement of the second active sensor; and

determining a three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the reference plane based on the first information and second information.

14. The method of claim 13 comprising defining the reference plane for the bone using the processor.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the reference plane on a display device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the bone is a pelvis.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein determining the three-dimensional orientation of the surgical tool with respect to the reference plane comprises determining an angle of abduction and an angle anteversion.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the first active sensor is attached to an iliac crest of the pelvis.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the reference plane is defined based on distances between at least three predetermined reference locations on the bone.

20. The method of claim 19 comprising receiving the distances at the processor, the distances determined from measurements using at least one pre-operative scan of the bone showing the at least three predetermined reference locations.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein at least two of the at least three predetermined reference locations are palpable bony landmarks.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the first active sensor is attached to the bone using a bone screw.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second active sensors each comprise at least one accelerometer and at least one gyroscope.

24. The method of claim 13 further comprising initializing by the processor the second active sensor relative to the first active sensor such that the first active sensor and second active sensor have a predetermined orientation with respect to each other.