Surgical Robot Guide Tube Depth Measurement via Optical Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical techniques face challenges in accurately measuring the depth of surgical instruments within complex bone structures during robot-assisted surgeries, often relying on x-ray imaging that exposes patients and staff to unnecessary radiation and obstructs surgical access.
Innovation Solution
A surgical robot system with a guide tube equipped with a tracking marker and a tracking subsystem, using position sensors and computer-processed viewplane scans to determine the distance for a surgical instrument to contact a target bone, allowing indirect tracking without x-ray imaging and minimizing radiation exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If x-ray imaging is used to measure dilator tube insertion depth, then measurement accuracy is improved, but patient and staff are exposed to unnecessary radiation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the x-ray imaging system (electromagnetic radiation-based measurement) with a mechanical tracking system using arrays of markers and cameras. The tracking array mounted on the dilator tube provides direct mechanical/optical tracking of instrument position and depth without ionizing radiation, thus substituting a harmful electromagnetic measurement system with a safe mechanical/optical alternative while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a tracking array as an intermediary element attached to the dilator tube. This tracking array serves as a mediator that carries optical markers visible to tracking cameras, enabling indirect measurement of dilator position and depth through optical detection rather than direct x-ray imaging. The intermediary translates the physical position into optically detectable signals without requiring radiation exposure.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a tracking array is mounted on the dilator tube to enable image guidance, then radiation exposure is reduced, but the tracking array becomes unwieldy and obtrusive in the surgical area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies nesting by placing the tracking array inside the lumen of the dilator tube rather than mounting it externally. The tracking array is nested within the instrument itself, making it compact and non-obtrusive in the surgical field while still enabling optical tracking. This nested configuration eliminates the unwieldy external mounting problem while maintaining radiation reduction benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from external three-dimensional tracking array mounting to internal one-dimensional tracking along the instrument axis. By nesting the tracking array within the dilator tube lumen, the system reduces spatial complexity and eliminates obtrusiveness while maintaining tracking capability through the optical markers visible to external cameras.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual positioning of drill guide tube is used with guidance system overlay, then surgical flexibility is maintained, but the process becomes tedious and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements real-time feedback through optical tracking cameras that continuously monitor the position of tracking arrays on both the dilator tube and drill guide tube. The system provides immediate visual feedback to the surgeon through overlay graphics showing actual instrument positions relative to the planned trajectory, enabling rapid adjustment and verification without time-consuming manual measurement or repeated x-ray imaging.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and displaying the optimal drill trajectory and target position on the guidance system overlay before the actual drilling begins. The system prepares the surgical path in advance, allowing the surgeon to verify positioning quickly and proceed directly to drilling without repeated adjustments or measurements, thus reducing positioning time while maintaining flexibility.
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
Enables precise and radiation-reduced depth measurement for surgical instruments, enhancing surgical accuracy and safety by using computer-processed scans and tracking markers within the surgical robot system.
Implementation Method 1
a tracking subsystem having a position sensor that recognizes the tracking marker in a navigational space
Data Source
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AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods for measuring the distance and/or depth to a target bone for surgery using a robotic surgical system. The surgical robot system may be configured to depict the distance from a guide tube of the robot to a target bone of a patient as a vector. The vector may represent a view of the guide tube when the guide tube's central axis is coincident with a line of intersection of two viewplanes of a 2D image of the target bone, for example, one viewplane being sagittal and one viewplane being axial.