Navigation Camera Stabilization System for Surgical Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
In computer-assisted surgery, navigation camera systems often experience de-calibration due to human contact, leading to prolonged surgical procedures as they require recalibration, disrupting the precision and accuracy needed in such operations.
Innovation Solution
A stabilization system for navigation cameras that includes a processing unit and sensors to detect changes in orientation, automatically adjust the camera's position, and resume tracking, utilizing actuators and redundant sensors to maintain calibration and prevent surgical robot movements during orientation adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the navigation camera is kept in a fixed position for stable tracking, then tracking accuracy is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to de-calibration when personnel contact the camera
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the camera's orientation using sensors (encoders, inertial sensors) and compares it against the reference orientation. When deviation is detected, the system provides feedback to either alert personnel or automatically correct the orientation, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains calibration stability while preserving tracking accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilization system performs self-correction by automatically detecting orientation changes and actuating the assembly back to the reference orientation without requiring external intervention or manual recalibration, thereby maintaining both tracking accuracy and calibration stability autonomously
2Measurement precision
If manual recalibration is performed after camera contact, then calibration accuracy is restored, but surgical procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes a reference orientation before surgery begins and continuously monitors deviations from this reference throughout the procedure. This preliminary setup and continuous monitoring enable immediate detection and correction of calibration drift, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual recalibration steps during surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The automatic stabilization system performs self-correction by detecting orientation changes and autonomously actuating the camera assembly back to the reference orientation, restoring calibration accuracy without requiring surgical personnel to intervene or perform manual recalibration procedures
3Ease of operation
If the camera orientation is allowed to change freely, then ease of operation is improved, but tracking precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically balances camera adjustability with precision requirements by allowing orientation changes during setup and operation, but automatically detecting and correcting deviations that exceed acceptable thresholds. The assembly can be manually adjusted when needed, but the stabilization system ensures tracking precision is maintained by returning to the reference orientation when necessary
Data Source
AI summary
A system for tracking at least one tool and/or at least one bone during computer-assisted surgery includes 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: tracking at least one tool and/or at least one bone with at least one image-capture device, with the image-capture device being at a first orientation during a surgical procedure, detecting a change in orientation of the at least one image-capture device from the first orientation, quantifying the change in orientation of the at least one image-capture device from the first orientation, and tracking of the at least one tool and/or of the at least one bone with the at least one image-capture device as a function of the quantifying of the change in orientation of the image-capture device from the first orientation.