Methods and systems for providing depth information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10828114-B2
Application number	US-201616343248-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2016
Priority date	Oct 18, 2016
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

Methods and systems for outputting depth data during a medical procedure on a patient. Depth data is outputted, representing at least one of relative depth data and general depth data. Tracking information about the position and orientation of a medical instrument and depth information about variations in depth over a site of interest are used. Relative depth data represents the depth information relative to the position and orientation of the instrument. General depth data represents the depth information over the site of interest independently of the position and orientation of the instrument.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A medical navigation system for use during a medical procedure on a patient, the medical navigation system comprising:
a tracking system configured to obtain tracking information about position and orientation of an instrument during the medical procedure;
a depth detector configured to obtain depth information about variations in depth over a surface of a site of interest, the depth detector being separate from the tracking system to obtain the depth information separately from the tracking information; and
a controller in communication with the tracking system and the depth detector to receive the tracking information and the depth information, respectively, the controller having a processor coupled to a memory, the controller configured to enable selection of output representing relative depth data, general depth data, or both, and further configured to cause at least one output device to provide output representing relative depth data, general depth data, or both, in accordance with the selection, the at least one output device being a display device, and the controller further configured to cause the display device to display the output overlaid on a captured image of the site of interest, and to cause display of the output including changing a visual characteristic of contour lines overlaid on the captured image;
wherein the relative depth data is determined by the controller using the tracking information and the depth information, and represents the depth information relative to the position and orientation of the instrument; and
wherein the general depth data represents the depth information over the surface of the site of interest independently of the position and orientation of the instrument.

2. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein, when output of both relative depth data and general depth data is selected, the controller is configured to cause at least one output device to provide output representing the relative depth data, and to cause at least another one output device to provide output representing the general depth data.

3. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising a camera for capturing the image of the site of interest.

4. The medical navigation system of claim 3 wherein the controller is further configured to cause display of the output including selective display of predefined colors in overlaid on the captured image, the predefined colors each being associated with a relative depth range.

5. The medical navigation system of claim 3 wherein the controller is further configured to cause display of the output including blurring at least one portion of the captured image corresponding to at least one portion of the site of interest outside of a predefined depth range relative to the distal end of the instrument.

6. The medical navigation system of claim 3 wherein the controller is further configured to cause display of the output including visually highlighting at least one portion of the captured image corresponding to at least one portion of the site of interest within a predefined depth range relative to the distal end of the instrument.

7. The medical navigation system of claim 1 wherein changing the visual characteristic of the contour lines comprises one or more of changing a line style, a line thickness, a line color, and a line location.

8. The medical navigation system of claim 1 wherein the instrument has an operational axis, wherein the controller is further configured to:
calculate the depth information relative to a plane defined by the operational axis; and
cause display of the output including displaying the visual characteristic of the contour lines to represent the depth information relative to a plane defined by the operational axis.

9. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to cause the at least one output device to provide an audio output.

10. The medical navigation system of claim 9 , wherein the audio output is representative of the relative depth data.

11. The medical navigation system of claim 9 , wherein the audio output comprises an audio pattern representing the general depth data.

12. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the depth detector is positioned above the surface of the site of interest.

13. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the depth detector is an imaging device separate from the tracking system.

14. The medical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the depth detector is a 3D scanner separate from the tracking system.

15. A method for use during a medical procedure on a patient, the method comprising:
receiving depth information about variations in depth over a surface of a site of interest;
receiving tracking information about position and orientation of an instrument during the medical procedure;
wherein the depth information and the tracking information are obtained separately from each other;
enabling selection of output representing relative depth data, general depth data, or both;
providing output representing relative depth data, general depth data, or both, in accordance with the selection by displaying the output overlaid on a captured image of the site of interest; and
changing a visual characteristic of contour lines overlaid on the captured image;
wherein the relative depth data is determined using the tracking information and the depth information, and represents the depth information relative to the position and orientation of the instrument; and
wherein the general depth data represents the depth information over the surface of the site of interest independently of the position and orientation of the instrument.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the instrument has an operational axis, the method further comprising:
calculating the depth information relative to a plane defined by the operational axis; and
displaying the visual characteristic of the contour lines to represent the depth information relative to a plane defined by the operational axis.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the output comprises at least one of a visual output, an audio output, a haptic output, and combinations thereof.

Assignees

• Abhari Kamyar
• Sela Gal
• Wood Michael Frank Gunter
• Hynna Kai Michael
• Dyer Kelly Noel
• Lee Tammy Kee Wai
• Synaptive Medical Barbados Inc

Inventors

• Abhari Kamyar
• Sela Gal
• Wood Michael Frank Gunter
• Hynna Kai Michael
• Dyer Kelly Noel
• Lee Tammy Kee-Wai

Classifications

• G06T7/50 Primary

  Depth or shape recovery · CPC title

• A61B34/20 Primary

  Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis · CPC title

• G06T7/20

  Analysis of motion (motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51) · CPC title

• G06T2207/30016

  Brain · CPC title

• A61B2034/2057

  Details of tracking cameras · CPC title