Medical registration apparatus and method for registering an axis

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11246719-B2
Application number	US-201414907106-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2014
Priority date	Aug 13, 2013
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

The invention relates to a medical registration apparatus (1), comprising •two flanks (2a, 2b); •a pivot portion (3) around which at least one of the flanks (2a, 2b) is rotatable with respect to a rotation centre (3c, 3d) (FIG. 1, FIG. 3); •a contacting portion (4a, 4b) on each of the flanks (2a, 2b), each contacting portion (4a, 4b) being spaced apart from the rotation centre (3c, 3d); and •a sensor (5, 6) being arranged with an offset (r, FIG. 4 A) to a line (a) connecting the contacting portions (4a, 4b). The invention also relates to a data processing method for use with the medical registration apparatus.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A medical registration apparatus comprising:
a pivot portion comprising a first gear wheel having a first rotation center and a second gear wheel having a second rotation center, the first and second gear wheels each having teeth configured to engage each other;
a first flank extending from the first gear wheel, the first flank and the first gear wheel being unitary, the first flank being rotatable with respect to the first rotation center;
a second flank extending from the second gear wheel, the second flank and the second gear wheel being unitary, the second flank being rotatable with respect to the second rotation center;
a first contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the first flank and a second contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the second flank, the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion being configured to be placed on an anatomical body part, a line passing through the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion defining a rotation axis about which the apparatus may rotate;
wherein the first and the second contacting portions and the first and the second rotation centers of the first and the second gear wheels lie in the same plane for every opening angle of the first and the second flanks; and
an active sensor that is configured to acquire data representing current spatial relationship information of the medical registration apparatus, the active sensor being positioned at proximal ends of the first and the second flanks with an offset to the rotation axis.

2. The registration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the active sensor comprises an inertial sensor and/or an optical sensor.

3. The registration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the active sensor comprises an optical sensor and an inertial sensor, the optical sensor and the inertial sensor being relatively positioned with a predetermined spatial relationship.

4. The registration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a distance from the first contacting portion to the first rotation center is the same as a distance from the second contacting portion to the second rotation center.

5. The registration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first contacting portion is connected to the first flank via a joint or rotation mechanism and/or the second contact portion is connected to the second flank via a joint or rotation mechanism.

6. The registration apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a locking mechanism located in between the flanks and fastened to each flank between the contacting portion and the pivot portion to secure the first and the second flanks in a fixed position with respect to each other.

7. A method for registering an axis of a medical registration apparatus with respect to an active sensor of the medical registration apparatus, the medical registration apparatus comprising:
a pivot portion comprising a first gear wheel having a first rotation center and a second gear wheel having a second rotation center, the first and second gear wheels each having teeth configured to engage each other;
a first flank extending from the first gear wheel, the first flank and the first gear wheel being unitary, the first flank being rotatable with respect to the first rotation center;
a second flank extending from the second gear wheel, the second flank and the second gear wheel being unitary, the second flank being rotatable with respect to the second rotation center;
a first contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the first flank and a second contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the second flank, the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion being configured to be placed on an anatomical body part, a line passing through the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion defining a rotation axis about which the apparatus may rotate;
wherein the first and the second contacting portions and the first and the second rotation centers of the first and the second gear wheels lie in the same plane for every opening angle of the first and the second flanks; and
the active sensor, which is configured to acquire data representing current spatial relationship information of the medical registration apparatus, the active sensor being positioned at proximal ends of the first and the second flanks with an offset to the rotation axis;
the method comprising:
acquiring, at a processor of a computer operably associated with the active sensor of the medical registration apparatus and from the active sensor of the medical registration apparatus, sensor movement data representing a rotational movement of the active sensor of the medical registration apparatus around the rotation axis of the medical registration apparatus;
determining, by the processor and based on the sensor movement data, axis registration data representing a spatial relationship of the rotation axis of the medical registration apparatus relative to the active sensor of the medical registration apparatus.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the active sensor of the medical registration apparatus comprises an optical sensor, and the method further comprises:
acquiring, at the processor from the optical sensor of the medical registration apparatus, optical sensor data representing a distance between the optical sensor of the medical registration apparatus and an external reference; and
determining, by the processor based on the optical sensor data and the axis registration data, spatial axis data representing a spatial relationship of the rotation axis of the medical registration apparatus relative to the external reference.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the rotation axis of the medical registration apparatus is aligned with a characteristic axis of an anatomical body part.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for registering an axis of a medical registration apparatus with respect to an active sensor of the medical registration apparatus, the medical registration apparatus comprising:
a pivot portion comprising a first gear wheel having a first rotation center and a second gear wheel having a second rotation center, the first and second gear wheels each having teeth configured to engage each other;
a first flank extending from the first gear wheel, the first flank and the first gear wheel being unitary, the first flank being rotatable with respect to the first rotation center;
a second flank extending from the second gear wheel, the second flank and the second gear wheel being unitary, the second flank being rotatable with respect to the second rotation center;
a first contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the first flank and a second contacting portion positioned at a distal end of the second flank, the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion being configured to be placed on an anatomical body part, a line passing through the first contacting portion and the second contacting portion defining a rotation axis about which the apparatus may rotate;
wherein the first and the second contacting portions and the first and the second rotation centers of the first and the second gear wheels lie in the same plane for every opening angle of the first and the second flanks; and
the active sensor, which is configured to acquire data representing current spatial relationship information of the medical registration apparatus, the active sensor being positioned at proximal ends of the first and the second flanks with an offset to the rotation axis;
the program, when running on a computer operably associated with the active sensor of the medical registr

Assignees

• Brainlab Ag

Inventors

• Kling Sabine
• Poitzsch Luise
• Schubert Mario
• Stulpe Melanie

Classifications

• A61F5/01 Primary

  Orthopaedic devices, e.g. long-term immobilising or pressure directing devices for treating broken or deformed bones such as splints, casts or braces · CPC title

• A61B2017/00951

  adhesive · CPC title

• A61B90/06

  Measuring instruments not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• A61B2090/3916

  Bone tissue · CPC title

• A61B2034/2048

  using an accelerometer or inertia sensor · CPC title