Patent ID: 7835779
Filing Date: 2010-11-16
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An intra-operative imaging and tracking system for guiding a surgical tool during a surgical procedure performed on a patient, comprising: a fluoroscope having an x-ray source and an imaging assembly, said source and imaging assembly being movable about the patient to generate a plurality of two-dimensional x-ray images of the patient from different views; a magnetic tracker having a field generating unit driven by a drive signal to generate an electromagnetic field in an area of interest and a sensing unit that generates a sensing signal in response to said field, one of said units being secured against movement relative to said imaging assembly and the other unit being affixed to the surgical tool; a magnetic field distorter secured to said imaging assembly, a signal measurement circuit for measuring said drive and sensing signals to generate measured signal data; and a processor operative on said x-ray images and said measure signals, said processor modeling said field distorter and said generating and sensing units to derive modeled signal data and fitting said modeled signal data to said measured signal data to determine relative coordinates and orientations of said generating and sensing units, said processor further utilizing said x-ray images and said relative coordinates and orientations to determine position of the tool relative to the patient.