System and method for augmentation of endoscopic surgery
First Claim
1. A method determining positional information about an anatomical feature within a patient'"'"'s body comprising the steps of:
- inserting a first surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, the instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body;
designating an anatomical feature of interest by pointing with a second surgical instrument, one or more visual targets being on the second instrument;
transmitting an image of the designated anatomical feature out of the patient'"'"'s body using the first surgical instrument;
determining positional information about the designated anatomical feature of interest by using image processing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present method and apparatus use image processing to determine information about the position of a designated object. The invention is particularly useful in applications where the object is difficult to view or locate. In particular, the invention is used in endoscopic surgery to determine positional information about an anatomical feature within a patient'"'"'s body. The positional information is then used to position or reposition an instrument (surgical instrument) in relation to the designated object (anatomical feature). The invention comprises an instrument which is placed in relation to the designated object and which is capable of sending information about the object to a computer. Image processing methods are used to generated images of the object and determine positional information about it. This information can be used as input to robotic devices or can be rendered, in various ways (video graphics, speech synthesis), to a human user. Various input apparatus are attached to the transmitting or other used instruments to provide control inputs to the computer.
1525 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method determining positional information about an anatomical feature within a patient'"'"'s body comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, the instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body; designating an anatomical feature of interest by pointing with a second surgical instrument, one or more visual targets being on the second instrument; transmitting an image of the designated anatomical feature out of the patient'"'"'s body using the first surgical instrument; determining positional information about the designated anatomical feature of interest by using image processing.
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2. A method of determining positional information about an anatomical feature within a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, the instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body; transmitting an image of the designated anatomical feature out of the patient'"'"'s body using the first surgical instrument; displaying the transmitted image; designating an anatomical feature of interest by manipulating a computer generated graphics object displayed and superimposed on the display image transmitted by the first surgical instrument; and determining positional information about the designated anatomical feature of interest by using image processing. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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5. A method of determining positional information about an anatomical feature within a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, the instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body; transmitting an image of the designated anatomical feature out of the patient'"'"'s body using the first surgical instrument; designating an anatomical feature of interest by using either one of the following steps (1) and (2); (1) pointing with a second surgical instrument having a visual target and (2) manipulating a computer generated graphics object displayed and superimposed on the image transmitted by the first surgical instrument; and
further comprising the steps of;determining positional information about the designated anatomical feature of interest by using image processing; and providing the positional, information to a surgeon. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of determining positional information about an anatomical feature comprising:
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inserting a first and a second surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, each instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body; obtaining a first image of the feature from a first vantage point using the first surgical instrument; obtaining a second image of the feature using the second surgical instrument from a second vantage point, the second vantage point being at a known position and orientation with respect to the first vantage point; locating the anatomical feature in both images; computing the position of the anatomical feature relative to the vantage points using positional information about the feature in each image, together with the known position and orientation of the two vantage points with respect to each other. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method of determining positional information about an anatomical feature comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first surgical instrument into the patient'"'"'s body, the instrument having a means for transmitting an image out of the patient'"'"'s body; obtaining a first image of the feature from a first vantage point using the first surgical instrument; obtaining a second image of the feature using the first surgical instrument from a second vantage point, the second vantage point being at a known position and orientation with respect to the first vantage point; locating the anatomical feature in the first and second images; and
computing the position of the anatomical feature relative to the first and second vantage points using positional information about the feature in each of the first and second images together with the known position and orientation of the two vantage points with respect to each other.
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Specification