Patent ID: 6032066
Filing Date: 2000-02-29
Classification: A61B,A61N,Y10S

Abstract:
Apparatus for correlating a subject area with respect to a radiation beam, the radiation beam having a respective coordinate system, comprising:a digitizer probe formed of a handle and an elongate body having one end coupled to the handle and a distal end opposite the one end across the length of the elongate body, the distal end for pointing to a point on the subject area, the handle having a transmitter for generating a working signal;a 3-D digitizer having (i) a receiver spaced apart from the digitizer probe and the subject area for receiving the working signal from the transmitter, and (ii) digitizing means coupled to the receiver and responsive to the received working signals, the digitizing means calculating and digitizing coordinates of the point on the subject area pointed to by the probe distal end in a coordinate system of the 3-D digitizer, such that the 3-D digitizer generates digitizer coordinates of the point;a computer processor assembly coupled to the 3-D digitizer for receiving the digitizer coordinates of the point and transforming the digitizer coordinates into coordinates of the radiation beam coordinate system; anda display assembly coupled to the computer processor assembly for displaying an indication of location of the point pointed to by the distal end of the probe with respect to intersection of the radiation beam with the subject area, such that the subject area is able to be correlated to the radiation beam.