Patent ID: 8315689
Filing Date: 2012-11-20
Classification: A61B,G01R

Abstract:
1. An MRI-guided surgical system, comprising: at least one MRI-compatible surgical tool; a circuit adapted to communicate with an MRI scanner, wherein the circuit electronically recognizes predefined physical characteristics of the at least one tool to automatically segment MR image data provided by the MRI scanner whereby the at least one tool constitutes a point of interface with the system; and at least one display in communication with the circuit, wherein the circuit is configured to provide a User Interface that defines workflow progression for an MRI-guided surgical procedure and allows a user to select steps in the workflow, wherein the circuit is configured to generate multi-dimensional visualizations using predefined data of the at least one tool and data from MRI images of the patient in substantially real time during the surgical procedure, and wherein the at least one surgical tool comprises a flexible patch with a grid, and wherein the circuit is configured with a patch segmentation module that is able to locate the patch in an MR volume and generate a visualization presented on the display which shows the patch as an overlay on a patient with defined grid coordinates for a surgical entry site.