Virtual mapping of an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith
First Claim
1. A method for determining an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
- transmitting ultrasonic signals from an ultrasonic wand to an ultrasonic receiver, where the ultrasonic receiver is attached to a first end of a bone, the bone comprises two ends, and a second end of the bone is sufficiently stationary;
determining paired transmit-receive ranges between the ultrasonic wand and the ultrasonic receiver by weighted time of flight and phase differential measurements of the ultrasonic signals captured and processed at the ultrasonic receiver;
tracking the ultrasonic wand by way of, and relative to, the ultrasonic receiver during constrained rotational and translational movement at the first end from the paired transmit-receive ranges while the ultrasonic wand is positioned stationary, in proximity and in-sight of the ultrasonic receiver;
calculating a three-dimensional displacement and orientation time trajectory of the ultrasonic wand relative to the ultrasonic receiver from the tracking of the ultrasonic, wand and the time of flight and phase differential measurements;
generating a hemispherical surface representation of the constrained movement at the first end of the bone from the three-dimensional displacement and orientation time trajectory; and
calculating a pivot point of the second end of the bone from the hemispherical surface representation of the constrained movement relative to a predetermined origin of the ultrasonic receiver at the first end of the bone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided for resolving a pivot point via touchless interaction. It applies to situations where one end of a rigid object is inaccessible but remains stationary at a pivot point, while the other end is free to move and is accessible to an input pointing device. As an example, the rigid object can be a leg bone where the proximal end is at the hip joint and the distal end is at the knee. The system comprises a wand and a receiver that are spatially configurable to touchlessly locate the pivot point without contact. The receiver tracks a relative displacement of the wand and geometrically resolves the location of the pivot point by a spherical mapping. The system can use a combination of ultrasonic sensing and/or accelerometer measurements. Other embodiments are disclosed.
55 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting ultrasonic signals from an ultrasonic wand to an ultrasonic receiver, where the ultrasonic receiver is attached to a first end of a bone, the bone comprises two ends, and a second end of the bone is sufficiently stationary; determining paired transmit-receive ranges between the ultrasonic wand and the ultrasonic receiver by weighted time of flight and phase differential measurements of the ultrasonic signals captured and processed at the ultrasonic receiver; tracking the ultrasonic wand by way of, and relative to, the ultrasonic receiver during constrained rotational and translational movement at the first end from the paired transmit-receive ranges while the ultrasonic wand is positioned stationary, in proximity and in-sight of the ultrasonic receiver; calculating a three-dimensional displacement and orientation time trajectory of the ultrasonic wand relative to the ultrasonic receiver from the tracking of the ultrasonic, wand and the time of flight and phase differential measurements; generating a hemispherical surface representation of the constrained movement at the first end of the bone from the three-dimensional displacement and orientation time trajectory; and calculating a pivot point of the second end of the bone from the hemispherical surface representation of the constrained movement relative to a predetermined origin of the ultrasonic receiver at the first end of the bone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for determining an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing a three-dimensional acceleration surface according to changes in a local orientation of an ultrasonic receiver due to acceleration, where the ultrasonic receiver is attached to a first end of a bone, the bone comprises two ends, and a second end of the bone is sufficiently stationary; generating a hemispherical surface representation of constrained rotational and translational movement at the first end from the three-dimensional acceleration surface; and calculating, relative to the ultrasonic receiver, a pivot point of the bone at the second end from the hemisphencai surface representation of the three-dimensional acceleration surface. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for determining an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith, the system comprising:
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an ultrasonic wand including; three or more ultrasonic transmitters to transmit ultrasonic signals through air; an electronic circuit to generate and shape driver signals to the three or more ultrasonic transmitters for producing the ultrasonic signals; an interface to receive user input for registering a wand tip location of the ultrasonic wand, a communications port to relay the user input and or receiving timing information to control the electronic circuit; and a battery to power the electronic circuit and associated electronics, where the wand tip has no sensory electronics, transmitters or labeled markers affixed or attached thereon, and an ultrasonic receiver including; a processor to generate timing information, track hemispherical movement of the ultrasonic receiver from the timing information, and resolve a pivot point of the hemispherical movement when the ultrasonic wand is in proximity; a communications interface to transmit the timing information to the ultrasonic wand that in response transmits the ultrasonic signals; three or more microphones to receive the ultrasonic signals transmitted through the air. a memory to store received ultrasonic signals to produce a history of received ultrasonics signals, a wireless communication interface to wirelessly convey positional information and alignment of pointing locations to a remote system; and a battery to power the processor and associated electronics, where the processor selectively references the history of stored ultrasonic signals to track the hemispherical movement of the ultrasonic receiver over time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification