Apparatus and method for bone surface-based registration of physical space with tomographic images and for guiding an instrument relative to anatomical sites in the image
First Claim
1. Apparatus for bone surface-based registration of physical space with a tomographic image, comprising:
- an ultrasound transducer generating ultrasound signals representative of a distance from said transducer to said bone surface as said transducer is scanned over but spaced from said bone surface;
tracking means generating transducer position/orientation signals tracking transducer position and orientation as said transducer is scanned over said bone surface;
means synchronizing generation of said ultrasound signals with generation of said position signals;
physical model generating means generating from said ultrasound signals and transducer position/orientation signals a three-dimensional physical space model of said bone surface;
means generating a three-dimensional image space model of said bone surface from said tomographic image;
means generating an alignment of said physical space model and said image space model; and
output means generating an output utilizing said alignment.
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Abstract
An A-mode ultrasound transducer is tracked in three-dimensions by an optical position tracking system as the transducer is scanned over the skin to generate measurements of bone surface distance from the transducer. A processor correlates the ultrasound data with position and orientation data to generate a three-dimensional physical space model of the bone surface which is registered with an image space model of the bone surface generated from a tomographic image to produce an alignment of the two models. The ultrasound transducer is replaced by an instrument which is also optically tracked. The alignment is used to translate instrument position in physical space to a position in image space for generation on a monitor of a composite display of the instrument and the tomographic image. This composite display can be used to guide positioning and orienting the instrument in physical space with respect to sites of interest observed in the tomographic image on the display.
190 Citations
23 Claims
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1. Apparatus for bone surface-based registration of physical space with a tomographic image, comprising:
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an ultrasound transducer generating ultrasound signals representative of a distance from said transducer to said bone surface as said transducer is scanned over but spaced from said bone surface; tracking means generating transducer position/orientation signals tracking transducer position and orientation as said transducer is scanned over said bone surface; means synchronizing generation of said ultrasound signals with generation of said position signals; physical model generating means generating from said ultrasound signals and transducer position/orientation signals a three-dimensional physical space model of said bone surface; means generating a three-dimensional image space model of said bone surface from said tomographic image; means generating an alignment of said physical space model and said image space model; and output means generating an output utilizing said alignment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. Apparatus for guiding positioning of an instrument relative to a bone surface displayed in a tomographic image, said apparatus comprising:
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an instrument; tracking means generating tracking signals tracking position and orientation of said instrument in physical space; means providing an alignment of a model of said bone surface in physical space with a model of said bone surface in image space with the latter derived from said tomographic image; a visual display; and means using said tracking signals and said alignment to generate on said visual display a composite image comprising said tomographic image and a representation of said instrument in image space. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of bone surface-based registration of physical space with a tomographic image comprising the steps of:
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scanning an ultrasound transducer over but spaced from a bone surface to generate ultrasound signals representing a distance between the transducer and the bone surface; tracking the transducer position and orientation as the transducer is scanned over said bone surface to generate transducer position/orientation signals; generating a physical space model of said bone surface from said ultrasound signals and said transducer position/orientation signals; generating an image space model from said tomographic image; and registering the physical space model with the image space model to produce an alignment of said physical space model and said image space model. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification