Personalized Gripper for Head Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current position-tracking systems in medical procedures require additional sessions for frame adjustment and have limited accuracy due to potential movement of the frame relative to the patient's head, which complicates the registration of anatomical images and navigation of medical devices during procedures like sinuplasty.
Innovation Solution
A personalized gripper is designed based on anatomical images, featuring a position sensor that fits a specific organ in the patient's head, such as teeth, providing a fixed reference point for accurate registration with the position-tracking system, eliminating the need for manual registration and reducing navigation-related delays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a frame-based position-tracking system is used for medical procedures, then the system can track the position of medical devices, but the frame may move relative to the patient's head during procedures, reducing measurement precision
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the tracking function into two separate components: a stationary frame-based tracker and a patient-specific organ tracker. The frame remains fixed while the organ-specific tracker (attached to teeth, nose, or other head organs) moves with the patient's anatomy, eliminating the relative movement problem between frame and patient head.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary organ-specific tracker that mediates between the stationary frame and the patient's moving anatomy. This intermediary element (attached to teeth, nose, or other head organs) maintains a fixed relationship with the patient's head while allowing the frame to remain stationary, thus preserving measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If manual frame adjustment and registration sessions are conducted before procedures, then the position-tracking system can be calibrated, but additional time and effort are required, reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The organ-specific trackers are manufactured and customized before the procedure based on patient anatomy (teeth, nose, or other head organs). This preliminary customization eliminates the need for manual frame adjustment and registration sessions during the procedure, as the trackers are pre-configured to fit the patient's specific anatomy and automatically align with the planning images.
Solution Approach 2:
The customized organ-specific trackers are designed to self-align with the patient's anatomy and the pre-acquired planning images. The trackers inherently provide the registration function without requiring manual adjustment or additional calibration sessions, thus eliminating wasted time and effort.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardized grippers are used for position tracking, then manufacturing is simpler and costs are lower, but the grippers do not fit specific patient anatomy, reducing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by customizing the organ-specific trackers for each patient's specific anatomy (teeth, nose, or other head organs). Each tracker is locally adapted to fit the individual patient's anatomical features, ensuring reliable attachment and tracking while maintaining manufacturability through standardized customization processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes acquiring an anatomical image of at least part of a head of a specific patient, the anatomical image capturing at least a selected location in the head. A personalized gripper, which is shaped based on the anatomical image to personally fit an organ of the specific patient at the selected location, and which includes a first position sensor of a position-tracking system, is fitted. The anatomical image is registered with a coordinate system of the position-tracking system, by identifying the selected location in the anatomical image and measuring a first position of the first position sensor using the position-tracking system. A medical device that includes a second position sensor of the position-tracking system, is navigated in the head of the specific patient by displaying a second position of the medical device in the head on the registered anatomical image.