System and method for performing image guided surgery
First Claim
1. A surgical tool assembly comprising:
- a handpiece, said handpiece having;
a base;
a power producing assembly located in said base;
a coupling assembly mounted to said base for releasably attaching an accessory to said handpiece so that the accessory receives power from said power producing assembly, said coupling assembly having a run state in which the accessory is attached to said coupling assembly and an accessory load state in which the accessory is removable from said coupling assembly; and
a state marker attached to said coupling assembly, wherein the state of said state marker is controlled by said coupling assembly so that, when said coupling assembly undergoes a transition from the run state to the accessory load state, said state marker undergoes a state transition; and
a sensing unit, said sensing unit comprising;
a housing configured to be releasably secured to said base of said handpiece;
a position-locating device disposed in said housing configured to produce signals used to determine the position of said sensing unit; and
a handpiece state sensor fitted to said housing, said handpiece state sensor configured to monitor the state of said state marker and to produce a handpiece state signal representative of the state of said state marker.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A power tool system (24) for use with an image guidance system (28) to perform image guided surgery. The power tool system includes a handpiece (48) to which a powered cutting accessories (26) are selectively attached. A coupling assembly (50) releasbly holds a cutting accessory to the handpiece. A state marker (204) is connected to the coupling assembly. The state marker undergoes a state transition whenever the coupling assembly undergoes a run state/accessory load state transition. A sensing unit (34) integral with the image guidance system is releasbly attached to the handpiece. The sensing unit includes a sensing element (238) that provides an output signals indicative of the position of the sensing unit and handpiece. The sensing unit also includes a handpiece state sensor (240) that provides an indication of the state of the state marker. Once the image guidance system is calibrated for a cutting accessory, the system presents an image of the position of the cutting accessory. If the coupling assembly is moved to the accessory load state to facilitate the attachment of a new cutting accessory, the change in state of the output signal from the handpiece state sensor prompts the image guidance system to require the user to calibrate the system for the new cutting accessory. If the cutting accessory is a motor driven tool, the tool system includes a drive unit (42) separate from the handpiece with an electric motor (44). Rotational power developed by the motor is transferred to the handpiece by a flexible drive shaft (46).
520 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A surgical tool assembly comprising:
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a handpiece, said handpiece having;
a base;
a power producing assembly located in said base;
a coupling assembly mounted to said base for releasably attaching an accessory to said handpiece so that the accessory receives power from said power producing assembly, said coupling assembly having a run state in which the accessory is attached to said coupling assembly and an accessory load state in which the accessory is removable from said coupling assembly; and
a state marker attached to said coupling assembly, wherein the state of said state marker is controlled by said coupling assembly so that, when said coupling assembly undergoes a transition from the run state to the accessory load state, said state marker undergoes a state transition; and
a sensing unit, said sensing unit comprising;
a housing configured to be releasably secured to said base of said handpiece;
a position-locating device disposed in said housing configured to produce signals used to determine the position of said sensing unit; and
a handpiece state sensor fitted to said housing, said handpiece state sensor configured to monitor the state of said state marker and to produce a handpiece state signal representative of the state of said state marker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
said state marker is mounted to said base to move within said base and is connected to said coupling assembly to move when said coupling assembly transitions from the run state to the accessory load state; and
said handpiece state sensor is configured to monitor the position of said state marker and to generate the handpiece state sensor signal as a function of the relative position of said state marker to said handpiece state sensor.
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4. The surgical tool system of claim 3, wherein said state marker is a magnet.
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5. The surgical tool assembly of claim 1, wherein said position-locating device is configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a fixed unit so that the position of said sensing unit can be determined.
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6. The surgical tool system of claim 5, wherein said position-locating device is configured to receive signals broadcast by the fixed unit.
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7. The surgical tool assembly of claim 5, wherein one of said position-locating device or the fixed unit transmits light and the other of the fixed unit or said position-locating device monitors the transmitted light so that the position of said sensing unit can be determined.
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8. The surgical tool assembly of claim 7, wherein said position-locating device monitors light transmitted by the fixed unit and outputs signals representative of the position of said sensing unit.
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9. The surgical tool assembly of claim 1, wherein:
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said state marker is a light-emitting device and said light-emitting device is connected to said coupling assembly so that the on/off state of said light-emitting device is set as a function of the run state/accessory load state of said coupling assembly; and
said handpiece state sensor is configured to monitor the light emitted by said light-emitting device.
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10. A method of performing image-guided surgery including the steps of:
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providing a handpiece with;
a power generating unit;
a coupling assembly for releasably connecting a cutting accessory to the power generating unit, the coupling assembly having a run state in which the cutting accessory is coupled to the power generating unit and an accessory load state in which the coupling accessory is removable from the power generating unit; and
a state marker that indicates when the coupling assembly transitions from the run state to the accessory load state;
removable mounting a sensing unit to the handpiece, the sensing unit having;
a sensing device for generating signals indicating the position of the device relative to a surgical site; and
a handpiece state sensor for monitoring the state marker;
calibrating the sensing for the cutting accessory coupled to the power generating unit;
actuating the power generating unit in the handpiece to cause the actuation of the cutting accessory;
generating an image indicating the position of the cutting accessory relative to the surgical site based on the signals generated by the sensing device and said calibration of the sensing unit;
selectively replacing the cutting accessory coupled to the handpiece while the sensing unit remains attached to the handpiece by displacing the coupling assembly from the run state to the accessory load state; and
monitoring the state marker with the handpiece state sensor and, when the state marker indicated that the coupling assembly is transitioned from the rum state to the accessory load state, inhibiting the generation of subsequent images indicating the position of the cutting accessory until said step of calibrating the sensing unit is re-executed. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
the state marker is configured to move relative to the handpiece state sensor and is coupled to the coupling accessory to be physically displaced upon the transition of the coupling accessory from the run state to the accessory load state; and
the handpiece state sensor monitors the state marker by monitoring the physical displacement of the state marker.
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13. The method of claim 10, wherein:
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the state marker is a magnet that is physically displaced upon the transition of the coupling accessory from the run state to the accessory load state; and
the handpiece state sensor monitors the strength of a magnetic field of said magnet to determine the run/accessory load state of the coupling assembly.
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14. The method of claim 10, wherein:
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the sensing device of the sending unit transmits signals to or receives signals from a fixed unit; and
based on the signals received by the fixed unit or the sensing device, either the fixed unit of the sensing device generates signals used to determine the position of the sensing unit.
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15. The method of claim 14, wherein one of the sensing device or the fixed unit transmits light signals and the other of the fixed unit or the sensing device monitors the emitted light and, based on the emitted light, generates the signals used to determine the position of the sensing unit.
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16. The method of claim 10, wherein:
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the state marker selectively generates a state marker signal as a function of the run state/accessory load state setting of the handpiece coupling assembly;
the handpiece state sensor monitors the state marker to determine whether or not the state marker is producing the state marker signal.
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17. The method of claim 10, wherein the power generating unit is a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is actuated by energizing a drive motor.
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18. The method of claim 10, wherein:
- the sensing device of the sensing unit receives signals broadcast by a fixed unit and, based on the signal receive from the fixed unit, the sensing device generated signals used to determine the position of the sensing unit.
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19. The method of claim 10, wherein:
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a fixed unit transmits light towards the sensing device of the sensing unit; and
the sensing device, based on the receipt of light transmitted from the fixed unit, generated signals representative of the position of the sensing unit.
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Specification