Surgical Navigation Feedback for Real-Time Trajectory Verification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical navigation and robotic systems face accuracy issues due to patient movement and anatomical changes during procedures, which can compromise the precise placement of surgical tools.
Innovation Solution
A surgical navigation system with a precision guidance system and imaging system that uses sensors to verify the trajectory of surgical tools by comparing real-time sensor data with a pre-determined surgical plan, providing feedback and adjusting the tool's insertion to ensure accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If surgical navigation systems use pre-acquired images and virtual fluoroscopy to track surgical tool trajectories, then real-time visualization is improved, but accuracy deteriorates due to unaccounted factors such as patient re-positioning, inadvertent movement by surgical team, and anatomical changes during the procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs sensors (such as force sensors, torque sensors, or capacitive sensors) on the surgical tool to detect actual tissue characteristics during the procedure. This sensor data is fed back to the navigation system in real-time, allowing the system to compare expected tissue characteristics with actual measurements and dynamically adjust the trajectory visualization to reflect the true surgical path, thereby maintaining accuracy despite patient movement or anatomical changes
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-determines expected tissue characteristics along the planned trajectory before the surgical procedure begins. This preliminary characterization of tissue properties (such as density, impedance, or mechanical properties) serves as a reference that can be compared against real-time sensor measurements, enabling the system to detect deviations from the planned path and provide corrective guidance
2Measurement precision
If the system repeatedly acquires x-ray images during the procedure to verify tool placement, then real-time accuracy verification is improved, but radiation exposure and procedure time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical imaging process (repeated x-ray acquisitions) with a sensor-based detection method. Sensors on the surgical tool measure tissue characteristics directly during the procedure, providing continuous verification of tool placement and trajectory without requiring additional imaging steps. This substitution eliminates the time penalty and radiation exposure associated with repeated x-rays while maintaining verification capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discrete, intermittent x-ray imaging, the sensor system provides continuous monitoring of tissue characteristics along the surgical trajectory. The sensors continuously measure tissue properties as the tool advances, enabling real-time verification without interrupting the surgical flow or requiring the surgical team to stop and acquire additional images
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
Systems, instruments, and methods for surgical navigation with verification feedback are provided. The systems, instruments, and methods may be used to verify a trajectory of a surgical tool during a procedure. The systems, instruments, and methods may receive one or more captured images of an anatomical portion of a patient; execute a surgical plan to insert the surgical tool into the anatomical portion; receive sensor data collected from one or more sensors being inserted into the anatomical portion; determine whether the sensor data corresponds to the surgical plan; and send, in response to determining that the sensor data does not correspond to the surgical plan, an alert indicating that the surgical tool is not being inserted according to the surgical plan. The one or more sensors may be attached to the surgical tool.