Surgical Guidance System Using K-Wire Registration for Bone Tracking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
During minimally invasive orthopedic surgeries on the foot, surgeons face challenges in accurately determining the positions and orientations of bones and surgical tools through small incisions, leading to increased radiation exposure and longer surgery times due to the reliance on multiple fluoroscopic images.
Innovation Solution
A surgical assistance system that uses K-wires attached to bones to generate intraoperative images, determine their positions in both real-world and virtual coordinate systems, and provides augmented or mixed reality visualizations to superimpose bone models onto the surgical site, allowing for real-time updates of bone positions without the need for frequent fluoroscopic imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple fluoroscopic images are used to determine bone positions, then measurement precision is improved, but radiation exposure increases and surgery time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual 3D copy of the bone structure through CT scanning and registers it with the physical bone using K-wires as fiducial markers. This virtual model can be viewed and manipulated without requiring repeated fluoroscopic imaging, thus reducing radiation exposure while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs CT scanning and creates the virtual bone model before the surgical procedure. This preliminary action allows the surgical team to plan the procedure in advance with precise knowledge of bone positions, orientations, and anatomical relationships, eliminating the need for multiple intraoperative fluoroscopic images.
2Measurement precision
If multiple fluoroscopic images are used to determine bone positions, then measurement precision is improved, but surgery time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs CT scanning and creates the virtual bone model before the surgical procedure. This preliminary action allows the surgical team to plan the procedure in advance with precise knowledge of bone positions, orientations, and anatomical relationships, eliminating the need for multiple intraoperative fluoroscopic images.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual 3D copy of the bone structure through CT scanning and registers it with the physical bone using K-wires as fiducial markers. This virtual model can be viewed and manipulated without requiring repeated fluoroscopic imaging, thus reducing radiation exposure while maintaining measurement precision.
3Ease of operation
If K-wires are used for bone tracking, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses K-wires as intermediary fiducial markers that are already present in the surgical field. These K-wires serve as a simple, reliable reference points that can be easily tracked by the optical tracking system, providing a straightforward bridge between the physical bone structure and the virtual model without requiring complex specialized hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
An example method includes obtaining one or more intraoperative images, wherein: a surgical site includes bones that are not substantially exposed through skin of the patient during the surgery, a connected K-wire is attached to one of the bones, an external portion of the connected K-wire is connected to a fixation device that is attached to the patient; performing a registration process system with corresponding positions in a virtual coordinate system; generating a visualization that includes the models of the bones superimposed on the surgical site; based on the changes to the positions of the external portion of the connected K-wire, updating positions of the models of the bones in the visualization to maintain correspondence between positions of the bones and the positions of the models of the bones.