Surgical Instrument Tracking for Distance Warnings Near Critical Anatomy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical instruments can unintentionally cause injury to critical anatomical structures such as nerves and blood vessels during procedures, necessitating a system to alert the user when the instrument is near these structures.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising sensors on instruments, a location pad, and a workstation that uses field generators and medical imaging to register and track the instrument's position relative to a 3D model of the subject, providing warnings when the instrument is too close to critical structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If surgical instruments are used during procedures, then surgical operations can be performed, but the risk of unintentional injury to critical anatomical structures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously tracks the position of surgical instruments using sensors and location pads, calculates real-time distances to critical anatomical structures from 3D medical images, and provides immediate visual and auditory warnings when safety thresholds are breached. This closed-loop feedback enables surgeons to maintain high productivity while avoiding harm to critical structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary monitoring system that acts as a mediator between the surgical instrument and critical anatomical structures. This system includes sensors, a workstation with 3D modeling capabilities, and warning mechanisms that provide indirect protection without interfering with the surgical procedure itself.
2Reliability
If a monitoring system is implemented to track instrument position, then safety against injury to critical structures is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is designed to be universally applicable to various surgical instruments and anatomical structures. The sensors can track multiple instruments simultaneously, the 3D modeling system can represent different anatomical regions, and the warning system can monitor multiple critical structures, reducing the need for separate specialized systems for each surgical scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical monitoring mechanisms with sensor-based detection and computational analysis. Instead of mechanical switches or physical contact sensors, the system uses electromagnetic or optical sensors combined with 3D image processing and distance calculation algorithms, simplifying the physical hardware while maintaining high reliability.
3Reliability
If real-time tracking and warning systems are used, then protection against accidental contact with critical structures is improved, but the time required for procedure setup and operation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing 3D medical images to create accurate models of critical anatomical structures before the surgical procedure begins. The registration process establishes coordinate systems and transforms image data into the surgical workspace coordinate system in advance, so that during the actual surgery, only real-time instrument tracking and distance calculation are required, minimizing time loss during the procedure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively monitors and prevents contact between surgical instruments and nearby anatomical structures by generating visual and auditory warnings based on calculated distances, ensuring safe surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The location pad includes a number of field generators that generate and emit fields to be sensed by the sensors on the surgical instruments
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Physicians performing invasive procedures utilize instruments inserted into a human body to perform the procedures. Such procedures typically involve actions to be performed on specific targeted anatomical structures. During the procedure, nearby anatomical structures unrelated to the procedure should generally be avoided. A system and techniques are provided herein for monitoring the position of such unrelated nearby anatomical structures relative to one or more surgical instruments. The system emits a warning to a human operator such as a surgeon if one of the instruments is too close to a monitored anatomical structure.