Surgical Navigation With 3D Non-Rigid Tissue Coregistration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical navigation techniques struggle to accurately navigate soft tissues or tissues that undergo movement or deformation during surgery, as they rely on rigidly-fixed fiducial markers, leading to inaccurate coregistration when anatomy changes.
Innovation Solution
A surgical navigation system using an imaging system with RGB or NIR cameras, hyperspectral cameras, and computer processors for 3D reconstruction and non-rigid coregistration, allowing accurate alignment of intraoperative images with preoperative data, even with tissue movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigidly-fixed fiducial markers are used for surgical navigation, then the navigation system can provide stable reference points for coregistration, but it becomes inaccurate when soft tissues move or deform during surgery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from static, rigid fiducial markers to dynamic, deformable fiducial markers that can move and deform with the soft tissue. This allows the fiducial markers to maintain their reference function while adapting to tissue movement and deformation, resolving the contradiction between stability and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the fiducial markers from rigid to deformable, allowing them to change shape and position in response to tissue mechanics. This parameter change enables the markers to remain accurate reference points even when the underlying tissue deforms, maintaining both reliability and measurement precision.
2Loss of time
If preoperative imaging data is used for navigation, then the surgical plan can be established beforehand, but the data becomes outdated when anatomy changes during surgery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by continuously updating the navigation system with intraoperative imaging data and deformable fiducial marker positions. This real-time feedback loop allows the system to detect and compensate for anatomy changes during surgery, maintaining accuracy while preserving the benefits of preoperative planning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by establishing the surgical plan with preoperative imaging data, then uses deformable fiducial markers to track and compensate for subsequent anatomy changes. This allows the benefits of advance planning to be maintained while adapting to intraoperative conditions.
3Ease of manufacture
If fiducial markers are placed in fixed positions on the patient's body, then the coregistration can be established initially, but the markers no longer represent the current anatomy when tissue moves or deforms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mechanical parameters of the fiducial markers from rigid to deformable, allowing them to adapt their shape and position to match the underlying tissue. This maintains the simplicity of placement while ensuring continuous anatomical accuracy throughout the surgical procedure.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods are described for use during a surgical procedure that is performed on a portion of a body of a patient using a surgical instrument. A computer processor segments the portion of the patient's body within intraoperative images and performs 3D reconstruction of the portion of the patient's body based on at least some of the intraoperative images. The computer processor coregisters the portion of the patient's body to a common coordinate system with the portion of the patient's body as it appears within the preoperative imaging data using a non-rigid coregistration algorithm and drives an output device to display an output, based upon the coregistering. Other applications are also described.