Surgical Guide Positioning with Real-Time Navigation Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical navigation systems face challenges in accurately positioning guides relative to anatomy during medical procedures, particularly in ensuring proper alignment of instruments and bases with the anatomy, which can affect the precision and success of the procedure.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that include a base adapted to be coupled to the anatomy, a movable guide, tracking devices coupled to both the base and guide, and a navigation system that determines their positions relative to the anatomy, displaying graphical icons to indicate necessary manipulations for alignment with a desired position, enabling precise guidance of instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a base and guide are coupled to anatomy during a navigated procedure, then the positionability and guidance of instruments is improved, but the alignment precision and accuracy of the base and guide relative to the anatomy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system continuously monitors the position of the base and guide relative to the anatomy using tracking devices, and provides real-time feedback through graphical icons indicating the desired manipulation required to achieve proper alignment. This closed-loop feedback system allows operators to adjust the guide position while maintaining accurate alignment with anatomical structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical alignment methods with a navigation system that uses tracking devices and computational algorithms to determine and guide the position of the base and guide. The system substitutes mechanical measurement and alignment procedures with optical or electromagnetic tracking and software-based position calculation, thereby improving alignment accuracy while maintaining ease of operation.
2Measurement precision
If tracking devices are coupled to both the base and guide, then the ability to track and determine position is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tracking devices are designed to be multi-functional, serving both as position markers for the navigation system and as integral components of the base and guide structures. By combining tracking functionality with structural elements, the patent reduces the need for separate tracking components, thereby improving position tracking accuracy while minimizing the increase in overall system complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the navigation system provides real-time feedback through graphical icons, then the ease of positioning the guide is improved, but the loss of information or cognitive load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The graphical icons utilize color coding to convey different types of information about guide positioning. Different colors represent different aspects of alignment or different directions of required manipulation, allowing the system to present complex positioning information in an intuitive, easily distinguishable format that reduces cognitive load while improving ease of positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for positioning a guide relative to an anatomy is provided. The system can include a base adapted to be coupled to the anatomy, and a guide that can move relative to the base. The system can include at least one tracking device that can be coupled to the base and the guide, and a tracking system that tracks a position of the tracking device. The system can include a navigation system that determines a position of the base and the guide relative to the anatomy, and whether the position of the base and the guide are in a desired position. The system can include a display, which can display at least one icon superimposed on the image of the anatomy that graphically indicates a manipulation of the guide required to move the guide into the desired position.