Touchless Surgical Navigation Registration Using Photogrammetry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical navigation systems require manual and complex processes for patient registration, relying on discrete systems and cumbersome setups, which can lead to difficulties in alignment and accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A touchless registration process using photogrammetry to acquire images from multiple poses, enabling camera calibration and registration, allowing for near-automated or fully automated patient registration in surgical navigation systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual patient registration using discrete systems is used, then the system can be simpler in structure, but the registration process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple discrete systems (navigation camera, localizer, patient registration tools) into an integrated system where the navigation camera simultaneously performs navigation and patient registration functions. This merging eliminates the need for separate discrete systems while enabling automated touchless registration through unified software control and coordinated operation of multiple components.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual patient registration is used, then the setup process can be simpler, but the registration time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically capturing images of patient anatomy from multiple poses before formal registration begins. The software pre-processes these images to identify anatomical landmarks and generate a 3D surface model in advance, so that when registration is initiated, the computationally intensive work has already been completed, significantly reducing registration time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical registration processes (physical probing, landmark identification by hand) with automated optical imaging and computer vision algorithms. The navigation camera captures images and the software automatically identifies anatomical features, substituting mechanical interaction with optical-digital processes that are faster and require less manual setup.
3Device complexity
If traditional registration methods are used, then the equipment can be simpler, but the alignment precision decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from 2D image analysis to 3D surface modeling by capturing images from multiple poses and angles. The software reconstructs a three-dimensional surface model of the patient anatomy, enabling precise alignment in three-dimensional space rather than relying on limited 2D landmark matching, thereby significantly improving alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital 3D surface model (a virtual copy) of the patient anatomy from captured images. This digital replica can be precisely manipulated, measured, and aligned in the virtual environment without physical contact, allowing for higher precision alignment compared to manual methods while requiring only standard imaging equipment.
4Measurement precision
If touchless photogrammetry is implemented, then registration accuracy improves, but the process requires more complex image processing
Solution Approach 1:
The software performs self-service by automatically processing the captured images through photogrammetry algorithms to generate the 3D surface model. The system autonomously identifies anatomical landmarks, matches features across multiple images, and computes the registration transformation without requiring manual intervention or complex user-configured processing parameters, thereby managing the processing complexity internally while delivering high accuracy.
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
This method provides a more accurate, faster, and automated procedure for patient registration, reducing setup complexity and improving alignment precision.
Implementation Method 1
acquire a plurality of images of the patient and other relevant objects from many poses and processing the images through a photogrammetry module
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for an automated touchless registration of patient anatomy for surgical navigation systems. An example method includes: acquiring a plurality of images of the patient; determining relevant objects from a plurality of poses; and processing the received images through a photogrammetry module. The photogrammetry module may provide camera calibration and facilitate camera registration. As such, manual movement or robotic movement capabilities of the camera head, and digital visualization capabilities of a digital surgical microscope disclosed herein can be extended to allow near-automated or fully automated touchless registration for traditional surgical navigation.