Targeting an orthopaedic implant landmark
First Claim
1. A method of aligning an element with a hidden target, comprising:
- providing a landmark identifier including a field generator for generating an electromagnetic field;
the element when coupled to the landmark identifier defining a longitudinal axis that is predefined relative to a spatial coordinate system of the generated magnetic field;
displaying the position and orientation of the element as two circles and a line connecting the centers of the two circles, the line representing the longitudinal axis of the element;
displaying a target image; and
moving the element to vary at least one of the position and orientation of the element;
the element being aligned with the hidden target when the two circles are aligned with the target image.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for targeting landmarks on devices such as surgical implants is disclosed. The system can include a field generator for generating one or more magnetic fields, an orthopaedic implant located within the magnetic fields, the implant having at least one landmark, a removable probe with a first magnetic sensor, a landmark identifier and a processor. The landmark identifier can contain a second sensor, or, alternatively, the field generator. The processor can utilize sensor data and, if desirable, field generator and other information, to generate and display the position and orientation of the sensor(s) in preferably six degrees of freedom, and thereby, to generate and display the position and orientation of the landmark(s). The system allows for blind targeting of one or more landmarks. The landmark identifier, field generator and/or drill motor may be disposed in an autoclavable housing.
258 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of aligning an element with a hidden target, comprising:
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providing a landmark identifier including a field generator for generating an electromagnetic field; the element when coupled to the landmark identifier defining a longitudinal axis that is predefined relative to a spatial coordinate system of the generated magnetic field; displaying the position and orientation of the element as two circles and a line connecting the centers of the two circles, the line representing the longitudinal axis of the element; displaying a target image; and moving the element to vary at least one of the position and orientation of the element; the element being aligned with the hidden target when the two circles are aligned with the target image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20)
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17. A method of aligning an element with a hidden target, comprising:
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receiving data indicative of a position and orientation of the element while the element is coupled to a landmark identifier including a field generator; displaying the position and orientation of the element as two circles and a line connecting the centers of the two circles, the line representing the longitudinal axis of the element; displaying a target image that represents the hidden target; detecting movement of the element that changes the position or orientation of the element with respect to the hidden target; and in response to detecting the movement of the element, changing a displayed position of the circles and the line with respect to the displayed target image to indicate the changed position or orientation of the element with respect to the hidden target.
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19. A method of aligning an element with a hidden target, comprising:
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receiving data from one or more sensors configured to detect an electromagnetic field produced by a landmark identifier including a field generator, the element when coupled to the landmark identifier defining a longitudinal axis that has a fixed orientation relative to the field generator; based on the received data, displaying a position and orientation of the element as two circles and a line connecting the centers of the two circles, the line representing the orientation of the longitudinal axis of the element; displaying a target image that includes a representation of at least a portion of an implant, the hidden target corresponding to a particular region of the portion of the implant; and detecting movement of the element that changes the position or orientation of the element with respect to the hidden target; and updating the display of the circles and line to indicate a current position and orientation of the element with respect to the hidden target.
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Specification