Patent ID: 8277461
Filing Date: 2012-10-02
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method of determining the pedicle base circumference and the pedicle isthmus for enabling optimum screw or instrument placement in a pedicle of a vertebral body during spinal surgery, comprising: using computer imaging apparatus to create a three-dimensional image of the vertebral body, using computer imaging apparatus to create an image of the outer cortical shell of the vertebral body by taking a section of the three-dimensional image in a transverse plane; using computer imaging apparatus to provide on the transverse section a series of first lines tangential to the outer cortical surface of the vertebral body in and near the pedicle; using computer imaging apparatus to provide a series of second lines substantially perpendicular to the series of first lines, said second lines extending through the vertebral body in and near the pedicle thereof; using computer imaging apparatus to identify the pedicle base circumference as the areas of the outer cortical surface where adjacent second lines are of the greatest angle with respect to one another; and using computer imaging apparatus to identify the pedicle isthmus as the areas of the outer cortical surface where said second lines that are opposed to each other are closest to being parallel to one another.