Surgical Component Navigation Systems And Methods

Abstract

A navigation and monitoring system to track positions of surgical components during surgery of a patient. The navigation system includes a power source to emit a tracking signal during surgery of the patient, a first sensor mounted to a region of the patient to respond to the emitted tracking signal, and a control unit to track a position of the region relative to a fixed region of the patient as the region moves with respect to the fixed region, based on the response of the first sensor. The system can calibrate and register a movable reference point of the patient relative to a fixed reference point, and can maintain that reference point when the movable reference point moves in space during a surgical process.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 12 / 860,635 filed on Aug. 20, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of Invention[0003]The present general inventive concept relates generally to navigation of surgical components and, more particularly, to systems and methods to assist a surgeon in navigating anatomical regions of a patient to properly position and locate surgical components, adjuncts, surgical guides, goggles, dressings, instruments, and other surgical components before, during, and after injury or surgery of a patient, and for navigation and use around wounds and surgical sites.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]The controlled positioning of surgical instruments and other components is of significant importance in many surgical procedures and wound care applications, and various methods and navigation systems have been ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The present general inventive concept provides systems and methods to digitally register and track movable regions of a patient, enabling a surgeon to accurately position and navigate surgical components such as, but not limited to, surgical instruments, adjuncts, guides, goggles, wound dressings, and other surgical components with respect to reference points even when the reference points are moved before, during, or after treatment or surgery.

Problems solved by technology

One of the disadvantages of known systems is the need to maintain proper positioning of surgical instruments relative to movable anatomic references when those references are moved during surgery, and to enable surgeons to properly position surgical instruments in real time when anatomical reference points are moved during surgery.

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