Patent ID: 6675040
Filing Date: 2004-01-06
Classification: A61B,A61N,G06T

Abstract:
A system for optically tracking an instrument relative to the anatomy of a patient in a clinical field of view, comprising:a camera system including at least two spatially separated cameras, capable of viewing the clinical field of view to provide camera data in a first coordinate system defined by the camera system; an instrument comprising an optically detectable object that is detectable by the camera system to provide instrument data representative of the position of the instrument in the first coordinate system; a headband positionable on the head of a surgeon, the headband including a display viewable by the surgeon and an optically detectable array that is detectable by the camera system to provide headband data representative of the position of the headband in the first coordinate system; data storage comprising one of CT and MRI image data representative of the anatomy of the patient received from one of a CT and MRI imaging machine; and a computer to accept the camera data, the instrument data, the headband data, and the image data, and being programmed to transform the image data, the camera data, the headband data, and the instrument data into a second coordinate system, thereby generating tracking data representative of the position of the instrument and the headband in relation to the anatomy of the patient.