Rotatable Tracking Array for Asymmetrical Surgical Tools
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current position recognition systems for robot-assisted surgeries face challenges in accurately tracking asymmetrical surgical tools, such as curved curettes, which require full rigid body position tracking, including rotation, to ensure precise alignment and orientation during surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
The design of a surgical instrument with a rotatable tracking array and adjustable markers that can be calibrated using a sequence of test movements, allowing for accurate localization of the tool relative to anatomy, including the use of cam mechanisms and hinged assemblies to ensure optimal marker visibility and orientation detection by cameras.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a fixed tracking array is used on asymmetrical surgical tools, then the tool position can be tracked, but the rotational orientation and full rigid body position cannot be accurately determined
Solution Approach 1:
The tracking array is made rotatable relative to the surgical tool shaft, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation. This enables the array to be positioned optimally for camera detection while the tool rotates, and allows the system to detect both translational position and rotational orientation by tracking the array's movement relative to the tool.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracking system is divided into two independent components: the surgical tool shaft and the rotatable tracking array. This segmentation allows the tracking array to be independently positioned and oriented without affecting the tool's surgical function, enabling separate optimization of tracking capability and surgical performance.
2Measurement precision
If the tracking array is made rotatable to detect full rigid body position, then rotational orientation can be tracked, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the entire tool complex with multiple sensors, the solution uses a single rotatable tracking array that provides sufficient information for full rigid body tracking. The rotatability provides more than enough data for orientation detection, allowing the system to achieve complete positional and orientational tracking with a relatively simple mechanism.
3Reliability
If multiple tracking arrays are used to ensure optimal visibility, then marker detection reliability improves, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using multiple fixed tracking arrays, the solution employs a single rotatable tracking array that can dynamically position itself for optimal camera detection. The rotatability ensures that the array can always be oriented toward the cameras, providing reliable detection without needing multiple arrays.
Data Source
AI summary
An instrument for use in a navigated surgical procedure, the instrument includes a proximal portion, a distal portion and a shaft extending therebetween. An angled instrument tip is positioned at an end of the distal portion of the instrument. A first tracking array is coupled to the proximal portion of the instrument and a surveillance array is coupled to the proximal portion of the instrument. The tracking array includes a plurality of tracking markers, and is configured to rotate with respect to a central axis of the instrument.