Patent ID: 8718744

Claim:
A medical imaging apparatus comprising: an image data acquisition unit configured to interact with a patient to acquire image data from the patient representing a medical image of the patient; a first device and a second device configured to operate in combination with each other to identify a plane in space with respect to the patient; each of said first and second devices comprising a light source that emits a fan-shaped light beam, said light source being rotatable around a light source rotation axis, and a mirror that reflects the fan-shaped light beam so as to intersect the patient, said mirror being rotatable around a mirror rotation axis and defining a mirror plane, said mirror rotation axis and a surface normal of said mirror plane enclosing an angle that is greater than 0° and less than 90°, said mirror rotation axis and said light source axis being in a common plane and enclosing an angle therebetween in a range between 120° and 160°; and a control unit configured to interact with the first and second devices to cause the respective fan-shaped light beams emitted thereby to intersect on a body surface of the patient at a location that is determined from said image data to indicate a location and a direction of a medical instrument for implementing a medical procedure on the patient.