OLIF Trajectory Planning System for Spinal Surgery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for spinal surgery, such as Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion (OLIF), face challenges in accurately planning and executing the insertion of interbody implants due to the complexity of navigating around delicate patient tissues like the psoas and neighboring vessels, often resulting in suboptimal trajectories and potential tissue damage.
Innovation Solution
A surgical navigation and planning system utilizing a processor and computer-readable storage medium to receive patient-specific vertebrae information, perform image segmentation, and automatically determine an optimal trajectory for interbody implant insertion, calculating clearance distances and displaying a viable surgical plan to navigate around sensitive tissues within a predetermined margin of error.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual trajectory planning is used for OLIF surgery, then surgeon experience and judgment are utilized, but accuracy and consistency in avoiding delicate tissues are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical trajectory planning with an automated computer-based navigation system that uses imaging data and algorithms to calculate optimal implant paths. This substitution of mechanical/skill-based planning with automated computational systems directly improves trajectory accuracy while managing complexity through software-based solutions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy or model of the patient's anatomy using preoperative imaging (CT or MRI scans) to plan the trajectory before actual surgery. This virtual modeling allows accurate measurement and planning without physical intervention, improving precision while keeping the physical surgical procedure relatively simple.
2Manufacturing precision
If automated trajectory planning is implemented, then consistency and precision are improved, but system complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs all complex computational planning and trajectory calculation before the actual surgery using preoperative imaging data. By completing the computationally intensive work in advance, the system achieves high implant placement precision during surgery without requiring complex real-time computational resources or increasing intraoperative system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual anatomical model serves as a copy that can be manipulated and measured without affecting the actual patient. This allows complex computational analysis to be performed on the digital copy while keeping the physical surgical system relatively simple and straightforward to operate.
3Reliability
If conservative trajectory planning with large safety margins is used, then tissue damage risk is reduced, but surgical accessibility and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system allows different safety margins and clearance requirements to be applied to different anatomical regions and structures. Critical structures like nerves and vessels can have larger safety zones, while other areas can have tighter constraints. This localized approach improves tissue safety without unnecessarily complicating the overall surgical procedure or limiting accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of relying on surgeon judgment and conservative uniform safety margins, the system uses automated computational analysis to calculate optimal trajectories that precisely navigate around delicate structures. This substitution allows for more accurate and less conservative planning, improving both tissue safety and surgical accessibility by finding the true optimal path rather than applying uniform caution.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical navigation and planning system is disclosed. The system may include at least one processor, and a storage medium storing programming instructions. The programming instructions may cause the processor to receive patient-specific vertebrae information include at least one image which may be acquired by an X-ray. The system may perform segmentation of objects in the at least one image and automatically select a set of objects for planning an optimal trajectory to a location proximal the vertebrae level. The system may determine boundary dimensions of an interbody implant, a first entry incision location and a first path for the interbody implant from the first entry incision location to the location proximal the vertebrae level. The system may calculate a plurality of clearance distances between the boundary dimensions and the set of objects. The set of objects may include the psoas muscle, Aorta, and/or Vena Cava.