Bone Alteration Validation Tracker System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Invasive methods of securing tracker devices to bones during computer-assisted surgery can lead to fractures, and existing technologies lack effective solutions for validating bone alterations accurately during surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a patient-specific tracker device and a validation tracker device, both with trackable references, that register and track bone surfaces and tools in a coordinate system, allowing for non-invasive bone alteration validation using a processing unit and computer-readable memory with executable instructions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If tracker devices are pinned to bones in an invasive manner to ensure accurate tracking, then tracking accuracy is improved, but the risk of bone fractures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical pinning system with an optical tracking system. Instead of physically attaching trackers to bones through pins that risk fracture, the system uses optical cameras to track reflective markers placed on the bone surface. This substitution eliminates the invasive mechanical attachment while maintaining tracking accuracy through non-contact optical measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces reflective markers as intermediaries between the bone and the tracking system. These markers are placed on the bone surface without invasive pinning, serving as mediators that reflect optical signals from cameras to enable accurate tracking of bone position and orientation without direct mechanical attachment.
2Reliability
If traditional tracker devices are used to track bone surfaces, then tracking capability is achieved, but the ability to validate bone alterations accurately is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tracking system into multiple specialized components: pre-operative trackers for initial bone surface registration, intra-operative trackers for real-time tracking during surgery, and validation trackers for verifying bone alterations. Each tracker type is optimized for its specific function, enabling accurate validation of bone alterations by comparing pre-operative and intra-operative measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where intra-operative tracking data is continuously compared against pre-operative planning data. The system provides real-time feedback on bone position and alteration accuracy, allowing surgeons to validate that bone preparations match the surgical plan before proceeding with implant placement.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for validating bone alterations during computer-assisted surgery, comprises a processing unit; and a non-transitory computer-readable memory communicatively coupled to the processing unit and comprising computer-readable program instructions executable by the processing unit for: registering a surface of a bone in a coordinate system using a geometry of a patient specific tracker device on the surface of the bone; tracking a tool relative to the bone in the coordinate system as a function of implant geometry and of a planned implant position and orientation on the bone; and validating at least one alteration to the bone using a mating geometry of a validation tracker device applied to an altered surface of the bone.