Patent ID: 7166114

Claim:
A method for calibrating a position and an orientation of a surgical tool for use with a surgical navigation system comprising the steps of: attaching a tracking device capable of communication with the surgical navigation system to the surgical tool using an adapter, the surgical tool having a tool axis and a tool tip, and the adapter having a known relation between the tracking device and the tool axis; touching the tool tip to a calibration device capable of communication with the surgical navigation system and capable of determining a position of the tool tip relative to a position of the tracking device; calculating the position of the tool tip; calculating orientation data for the surgical tool from the known relation between the tracking device and the tool axis and from the position of the tool tip; and storing the position of the tool tip for the surgical tool and the orientation data for the surgical tool within memory of the surgical navigation system so that when the surgical tool is used with the surgical navigation system, the position and the orientation of the surgical tool can be tracked by the surgical navigation system.