Surgical Navigation Patient Registration Surface Trace Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional patient registration methods in medical navigation systems, such as touch-point registration, are cumbersome, inaccurate, and prone to user variability, requiring fiducials that can move or fall off, and often necessitate direct imaging before procedures, limiting their effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for surface trace patient registration using a surgical navigation system that initializes and records surface traces, computes a registration transform by minimizing Euclidean distances between the traces and extracted patient images, allowing for improved alignment and accuracy without the need for direct pre-procedure imaging or stable fiducials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If touch-point registration method is used, then fiducial points can be identified for registration, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming requiring multiple points to be acquired one at a time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the registration process into two distinct approaches: touch-point registration for high precision using fiducial markers, and surface trace registration for rapid acquisition using contour tracing. This segmentation allows the system to offer both accurate and time-efficient methods depending on procedural needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface trace method acquires more data points than strictly necessary for registration by tracing the entire surface contour rather than selecting specific points. This excessive action of capturing comprehensive surface geometry enables faster registration while maintaining sufficient accuracy for many applications.
2Measurement precision
If touch-point registration with fiducials is used, then registration points can be marked, but fiducials may move or fall off during the procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces surface traces as an intermediary registration method that bridges the gap between fiducial-based precision and stability concerns. By using the patient's own anatomical surface as the reference rather than external fiducials, the system eliminates fiducial displacement while maintaining registration accuracy through surface contour matching.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface trace method creates a digital copy of the patient's surface anatomy that can be matched against preoperative imaging data. This copying approach replaces physical fiducials with a virtual surface model, eliminating the reliability issues of physical markers while preserving registration precision.
3Ease of operation
If surface trace registration is used, then registration can be performed without fiducials, but the method requires acquiring and processing contour data which may be complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the tracking system universal by enabling it to perform both traditional point-based tracking and surface trace acquisition functions. The same optical tracking infrastructure that tracks surgical instruments is also used to capture surface contours, eliminating the need for separate dedicated trace acquisition hardware and simplifying the overall system.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface trace registration process is designed to be operator-guided rather than fully automated. The surgical team uses the tracked pointer to manually trace surface contours under system guidance, allowing the system to adapt to various anatomical shapes and registration needs without requiring complex automated scanning mechanisms.
4Measurement precision
If direct pre-procedure imaging is required for registration, then accurate anatomical data can be obtained, but the patient must be imaged immediately before the procedure which limits flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary surface scanning and registration model creation before the actual surgical procedure. By capturing surface traces and creating the registration transform in advance, the system prepares all registration data ahead of time, allowing the surgical team to focus on the procedure itself without time-consuming intraoperative registration steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts the registration process to the procedural timeline. Surface traces can be acquired preoperatively when time is available, and the registration model can be updated or refined intraoperatively if needed. This dynamic approach allows flexibility in scheduling while maintaining registration accuracy throughout the procedure.
Data Source
AI summary
The application as disclosed herein describes systems and methods for performing patient registration using a surgical navigation system. This application attempts to provide for improvements upon existing systems through the addition of refinement steps used to increase the accuracy of registration and streamline said process. In some cases the improvements generally involve the manipulation of spatial data in an iterative manner.