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  System for monitoring a position of a medical instrumentUSPTO Application #: 20060036151Title: System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument Abstract: A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body, including a medical instrument, a reference mount attachable to the patient's body for movement with the patient's body, and an electromagnetic unit for association with the reference mount and the medical instrument for monitoring movement of the medical instrument relative to the reference mount. The electromagnetic unit includes a first member attachable to the patient's body and a second member attachable to the medical instrument. The first and second members communicate by electromagnetic radiation. (end of abstract)
Agent: Mcandrews Held & Malloy, Ltd - Chicago, IL, US Inventors: Maurice R. Ferre, Peter D. Jakab, James S. Tieman USPTO Applicaton #: 20060036151 - Class: 600407000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Surgery, Diagnostic Testing, Detecting Nuclear, Electromagnetic, Or Ultrasonic Radiation The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060036151. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of pending U.S. Ser. No. 10/427,472, filed Apr. 30, 2003, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/643,608, filed Aug. 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,167, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/212,024, filed Dec. 15, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,756, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/637,289, filed Apr. 24, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,822, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 08/527,517, filed Sep. 13, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,089, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08/306,818, filed Sep. 15, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,444, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to computer assisted medical surgery and in particular relates to systems for displaying prerecorded visual images during surgical operations. [0003] Presently available medical imaging techniques such as CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and PET (Position Emission Tomography), are known to be helpful not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for providing assistance during surgery. Prerecorded images may be displayed during surgical operations to provide the surgeon with illustrative reference mappings of pertinent portions of a patient's body. [0004] Tracking systems for monitoring the position of a medical instrument have also been developed for use with image display systems. Generally, as the surgeon moves the medical instrument with respect to the patient's body, associated prerecorded images are displayed responsive to the movement of the instrument. Such tracking systems typically involve either the use of a passive articulated arm attached to the medical instrument, optical detection or ultrasonic detection. [0005] Tracking systems using a passive articulated mechanical arm attached to a medical instrument are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,174 and 5,230,623. Generally, as the surgeon moves the surgical instrument with respect to the patient's body, micro recorders at the joints of the articulated arm record the respective amounts of movement of each arm member. The outputs of the micro recorders are processed and the position of the medical instrument with respect to the base of the articulated arm is thereby monitored. One or more prerecorded images are then displayed responsive to the movement of the surgical instrument. Such articulated arm tracking systems, however, require that the instrument be attached to a cumbersome mechanical arm. Also, although free movement of the tip of the arm in three dimensional space may be theoretically possible, the surgeon might experience difficulty positioning the instrument at certain locations and in desired orientations within the body. [0006] Tracking systems using optical detection (video cameras and/or CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices)) have been proposed for monitoring the position of a medical instrument with respect to a reference unit as mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,623. Such systems, however, require that the reference unit and the instrument both be within the view of the camera. This not only limits the movement of the surgical staff, but also requires that at least a portion of the medical instrument remain outside the patient's body. [0007] Tracking systems using ultrasonic detection are generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,623. Such systems, however, are disclosed to be used in a fashion similar to optical detection, i.e., triangulation of transmitted signals. The transmitted signals are sent from one or more senders to associated receiver(s), and the distances travelled by the signals are determined from either timing or amplitude changes. Again, the transmission path must remain unobstructed. [0008] A further shortcoming common to each of the above tracking systems is that the patient must not move during the operation. Although the patient is likely to be generally anesthetized, the patient's body may be inadvertently moved by the surgical staff, or the surgeon may want to move the body for better positioning. If the body is moved after the tracking system has been initialized, then the tracking will be misaligned. [0009] There is a need therefore for a system for monitoring the position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body that avoids these and other shortcomings of present devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The invention relates to a system for monitoring the position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying at least one of a plurality of prerecorded images of the body responsive to the position of the medical instrument. The system includes a reference unit, a remote unit, a position characteristic field generator, a field sensor, a position detection unit and an output display. [0011] In one embodiment, the reference unit is secured from movement with respect to at least a portion of the patient's body such that the reference unit is substantially immobile with respect to a target operation site. The remote unit is attached to the medical instrument. The field generator is associated with one of the reference or remote units and generates a position characteristic field, such as a multiplexed magnetic field, in an area including the target operation site. The field sensor is associated with the other of the reference or remote units and is responsive to the presence of the field for producing a sensor output signal representative of the sensed field. [0012] The position detection unit is in communication with the sensor output signal and produces position data representative of the position of the remote unit with respect to the reference unit. The output display unit is in communication with the position detection unit for displaying at least one of the prerecorded images responsive to the position data. [0013] The system further may include a registration unit in communication with a storage unit and the position data. The storage unit stores the plurality of prerecorded images of the body. Each prerecorded image is representative of a planar region within the body such that the plurality of planar regions represented by the prerecorded images define a first coordinate system. The registration unit correlates the position data of a second coordinate system (as defined by the position detection unit) with the plurality of prerecorded images of the first coordinate system, and identifies a desired prerecorded image associated with the position of the remote unit with respect to the patient's body. [0014] The invention also relates to a reference unit that is attachable to a patient's head, and a medical instrument, such as an aspirating device, that is adapted to removably receive a position detection unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] The following detailed description of the invention may be further understood with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: [0016] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a system of an embodiment of the invention; [0017] FIG. 2 is a front view of the headset unit shown in FIG. 1; [0018] FIG. 3 is a side view of the headset unit shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; [0019] FIG. 4 is a rear view of a portion of the headset shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; [0020] FIG. 5 is an exploded side view of the surgical instrument and remote sensor shown in FIG. 1; Continue reading... Full patent description for System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Navigated surgical sizing guide Next Patent Application: Systems and methods for detecting and presenting textural information from medical images Industry Class: Surgery ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument patent info. 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