Detached Visualization Engine for Stable Mixed-Reality Surgical Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical planning and navigation systems rely heavily on two-dimensional and three-dimensional medical images, requiring surgeons to mentally construct a 3D model, which can lead to subjective decision-making and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A Detached Visualization Engine that generates a detached visualization of medical information and virtual instrument activity, using a secondary 3D coordinate space to overlay and update visualizations based on physical anatomy, maintaining a stable perspective despite changes in the headset's pose.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If surgeons use conventional 2D medical images and mental construction of 3D models, then surgical planning can be conducted with available data, but the process becomes subjective and less precise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the patient's anatomy from medical images (CT, MRI) and places it in the same physical space as the actual anatomy. This virtual replica can be manipulated and viewed from any angle without requiring the surgeon to mentally construct 3D models, providing objective and precise spatial relationships while maintaining manageable system complexity through software-based virtual modeling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera and display system as an intermediary between the patient's anatomy and the surgeon's perception. The camera captures the physical surgical field and overlays virtual anatomical models onto the real view, mediating the surgeon's understanding of spatial relationships and eliminating the need for subjective mental 3D construction.
2Productivity
If surgeons mentally construct 3D models from 2D images, then surgical planning can proceed, but time is lost in interpretation and imagination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the 3D model construction preliminary - before the surgical procedure begins. Medical images are processed offline to create accurate virtual anatomical models that are then ready for immediate use in the operating room. This eliminates the time-consuming mental construction process during surgery, as the 3D models are pre-computed and can be instantly visualized from any perspective.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/cognitive process of mental 3D construction with an automated computational system. Software algorithms automatically generate and render 3D anatomical models from 2D medical images, substituting the surgeon's mental effort with machine-based image processing and rendering, thereby dramatically improving surgical planning efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If overlay visualization is rendered directly at anatomical coordinates, then alignment with physical anatomy is achieved, but the visualization moves with headset pose changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the visualization from its direct anatomical coordinate binding and relocates it to a fixed position in the camera's field of view. Instead of the overlay moving with headset movements, the visualization is decoupled from the anatomical coordinate system and repositioned in a stable, predetermined location within the camera view, maintaining both alignment accuracy and visualization stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the visualization from being constrained to anatomical coordinates (three-dimensional space tied to the patient) to being positioned in camera view coordinates (two-dimensional display space). This dimensional change allows the visualization to remain stable in the display field while maintaining its anatomical correspondence, resolving the conflict between alignment accuracy and visualization stability.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of an apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products described herein are directed to a Detached Visualization Engine for detecting coordinates for a target portion of a physical anatomy in a unified three-dimensional (3D) coordinate space. The Detached Visualization Engine renders an overlay visualization of a display of medical data in alignment with the target portion of the physical anatomy. The Detached Visualization Engine applies an offset to coordinates of the overlay visualization. In some embodiments, the Detached Visualization Engine determines a secondary 3D coordinate space based on applying the offset to the entire unified 3D coordinate space. The Detached Visualization Engine renders a detached visualization according to the secondary 3D coordinate space.