Robotic Surgery Camera Tracking With Small Optical Markers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic surgical systems rely on large navigation markers that interfere with surgeon view and access, are prone to accuracy loss due to deflection, and require a CT scan for registration, adding time, cost, and complexity.
Innovation Solution
Employ multiple, repositionable navigation cameras and markers affixed at different patient locations, using smaller markers that can be tracked by secondary cameras on robotic arms, eliminating the need for initial registration and allowing intraoperative placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a single large navigation marker is used for tracking, then the marker can be detected from a distance, but the marker interferes with surgeon view and access to the surgical site
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the navigation system into multiple components: a primary large marker for initial registration and multiple secondary small markers for ongoing tracking. This segmentation allows the system to maintain accurate tracking while reducing visual interference during surgery, as the small markers are less obtrusive yet collectively provide sufficient tracking data when viewed by multiple cameras.
2Measurement precision
If a large navigation marker is used to maintain accuracy from distance, then tracking precision is improved, but the marker is prone to deflection and accuracy loss
Solution Approach 1:
By using multiple small markers instead of one large marker, the system eliminates the structural instability issue. Each small marker is individually stable and less prone to deflection, while the collective array of markers provides robust tracking data through redundancy, maintaining overall tracking accuracy without compromising individual marker stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent places markers at specific strategic locations on the patient's anatomy where they can be optimally positioned for both stability and visibility. The local positioning allows each marker to be placed in a structurally stable area, reducing deflection while maintaining detectability by the camera system.
3Device complexity
If a single camera is used to track the marker, then the system is simpler, but the camera must be placed at a distance requiring a larger marker
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a single-camera system to a multi-camera system, adding spatial dimensionality to the tracking approach. Multiple cameras positioned at different locations and angles can track multiple small markers, effectively creating a three-dimensional tracking network that maintains accuracy without requiring large marker size or simple single-camera configuration.
4Measurement precision
If CT scanning is performed for registration, then accurate initial positioning is achieved, but the patient is exposed to radiation and the procedure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the registration function from the CT scanning process and implements it through optical tracking of radiopaque markers visible in fluoroscopic images. This removes the harmful radiation exposure associated with CT scans while maintaining registration accuracy through the use of markers that can be clearly visualized in real-time fluoroscopy without requiring high-dose CT imaging.
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
Maintains accuracy and precision while minimizing interference with surgical procedures, reducing radiation exposure, and simplifying the registration process.
Implementation Method 1
a camera or sensor to track objects in a robotic space surrounding the surgical robot... radiopaque (RO) markers may be attached to a patient's bony or other anatomy, and the patient may be imaged by computerized tomography (CT) scanning
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic surgical system includes a first robotic arm, a second robotic arm, a first camera on the first robotic arm, and a second camera on the second robotic arm. A controller receives images from the first and second cameras, kinematically positions the first and second robotic arms in a surgical coordinate space, kinematically tracks a position of the first camera in the surgical coordinate space and optically tracks a position of the second camera using the first camera. Positions of secondary markers in a field of view of the second camera are calculated based on the position of the second camera as tracked by the first camera.