Method, system and apparatus for image capture and registration in image-guided surgery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10314523-B2
Application number	US-201415513256-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2014
Priority date	Nov 14, 2014
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for image capture and registration are described. The method includes: obtaining a position of an imaging device in a tracking system frame of reference; obtaining a position of a patient in the tracking system frame of reference; determining, based on the position of the imaging device and the position of the patient, a transformation for registering an imaging device frame of reference with a patient frame of reference; receiving an instruction to capture an image, the instruction including coordinates identifying a target area in the patient frame of reference; applying the transformation to convert the coordinates to the imaging device frame of reference; and controlling the imaging device to capture an image based on the converted coordinates.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method in a computing device, comprising:
at the computing device, obtaining a position of an imaging device in a tracking system frame of reference via a tracking system coupled to the computing device, the position of the imaging device comprising a first set of coordinates relative to an origin of the tracking system;
at the computing device, obtaining a position of a patient in the tracking system frame of reference via the tracking system, the position of the patient comprising a second set of coordinates relative to the tracking system origin;
determining, at the computing device, based on the position of the imaging device and the position of the patient, a transformation for registering an imaging device frame of reference defining a second origin with a patient frame of reference, wherein (i) the patient frame of reference is centered at a third origin located on the patient and distinct from the second set of coordinates, and (ii) defines a set of axes extending from the third origin, the axes aligned with anatomical planes of the patient;
receiving at the computing device, via an input device connected to the computing device, an instruction to capture an image, the instruction including a set of target coordinates identifying a target area of the patient according to the patient frame of reference;
generating a converted instruction from the instruction, by applying the transformation to convert the set of target coordinates to a fourth set of coordinates identifying the target area according to the imaging device frame of reference; and
capturing an image with the imaging device using the fourth set of coordinates in the converted instruction.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging device and the patient include markers, and wherein obtaining the positions of the imaging device and the patient comprises detecting the markers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the positions of the imaging device and the patient comprises receiving the positions from the tracking system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging device is an MRI scanner.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the captured image in association with the transformation.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
retrieving the stored image and the stored transformation;
applying the stored transformation to the image; and
presenting the transformed image on a display.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
retrieving the stored image and the stored transformation;
retrieving a second image and a second corresponding transformation;
applying the respective transformations to the image and the second image; and
presenting the transformed image and the transformed second image on a display simultaneously.

8. A computing device, comprising:
an input device;
an interface;
a memory; and
a processor interconnected with the input device, the interface and the memory, the processor configured to:
obtain a position of an imaging device in a tracking system frame of reference via a tracking system coupled to the computing device, the position of the imaging device comprising a first set of coordinates relative to an origin of the tracking system;
obtain a position of a patient in the tracking system frame of reference via the tracking system, the position of the patient comprising a second set of coordinates relative to the tracking system origin;
determine, based on the position of the imaging device and the position of the patient, a transformation for registering an imaging device frame of reference defining a second origin with a patient frame of reference, wherein (i) the patient frame of reference is centered at a third origin located on the patient and distinct from the second set of coordinates, and (ii) defines a set of axes extending from the third origin, the axes aligned with anatomical planes of the patient;
receive, via the input device, an instruction to capture an image, the instruction including a set of target coordinates identifying a target area of the patient according to the patient frame of reference;
generate a converted instruction from the instruction, by applying the transformation to convert the set of target coordinates to a fourth set of coordinates identifying the target area according to the imaging device frame of reference; and
capture an image with the imaging device using the fourth set of coordinates in the converted instruction.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the imaging device and the patient include markers; the processor configured to obtain the positions of the imaging device and the patient by detecting the markers.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , the processor configured to wherein obtaining the positions of the imaging device and the patient comprises receiving the positions from the tracking system.

11. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the imaging device is an MRI scanner.

12. The computing device of claim 8 , the processor further configured to:
store the captured image in the memory in association with the transformation.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising a display connected to the processor; the processor further configured to:
retrieve the stored image and the stored transformation from the memory;
apply the stored transformation to the image; and
present the transformed image on the display.

14. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising a display connected to the processor; the processor further configured to:
retrieve the stored image and the stored transformation from the memory;
retrieve a second image and a second corresponding transformation from the memory;
apply the respective transformations to the image and the second image; and
present the transformed image and the transformed second image on the display simultaneously.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a plurality of computer-readable instructions executable by a processor of a computing device for performing a method comprising:
at the computing device, obtaining a position of an imaging device in a tracking system frame of reference via a tracking system coupled to the computing device, the position of the imaging device comprising a first set of coordinates relative to an origin of the tracking system;
at the computing device, obtaining a position of a patient in the tracking system frame of reference via the tracking system, the position of the patient comprising a second set of coordinates relative to the tracking system origin;
determining, at the computing device, based on the position of the imaging device and the position of the patient, a transformation for registering an imaging device frame of reference defining a second origin with a patient frame of reference, wherein (i) the patient frame of reference is centered at a third origin located on the patient and distinct from the second set of coordinates, and (ii) defines a set of axes extending from the third origin, the axes aligned with anatomical planes of the patient;
receiving at the computing device, via an input device connected to the computing device, an instruction to capture an image, the instruction including a set of target coordinates identifying a target area of the patient according to the patient frame of reference;
generating a converted instruction from the instruction, by applying the transformation to convert the set of target coordinates to a fourth set of coordinates identifying the target area according to the imaging device frame of reference; and

Assignees

• Stainsby Jeff Alan
• Sela Gal
• Synaptive Medical Barbados Inc

Inventors

• Stainsby Jeff Alan
• Sela Gal

Classifications

• G01R33/5608

  Data processing and visualization specially adapted for MR, e.g. for feature analysis and pattern recognition on the basis of measured MR data, segmentation of measured MR data, edge contour detection on the basis of measured MR data, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of signal-to-noise ratio by means of noise filtering or apodization, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of resolution by means for deblurring, windowing, zero filling, or generation of gray-scaled images, colour-coded images or images displaying vectors instead of pixels (image data processing or generation, in general G06T) · CPC title

• G01R33/28

  Details of apparatus provided for in groups G01R33/44 - G01R33/64 · CPC title

• A61B2090/374

  NMR or MRI · CPC title

• A61B2090/364

  Correlation of different images or relation of image positions in respect to the body · CPC title

• A61B2090/363

  Use of fiducial points · CPC title