Method for instrument calibration update

1 . A computer-implemented medical method of updating a calibration of a multi-component medical system, the method comprising:

acquiring initial calibration data that describes an initial spatial relation between a first section of interest and a second section of interest of each component of an initial setup including two or more components of the multi-component medical system, wherein:

a first section of interest of a first component includes at least one tracking marker configured to be recognized by a tracking system;

a second section of interest of the first component and a first section of interest of a second component includes functional portions configured to releasably connect to each other; and

a second section of interest of the second component includes a functional portion configured to interact with a patient's anatomy and/or another functional portion of the multi-component medical system;

acquiring modification data that describes a modification of the initial setup of the multi-component medical system by adding, removing or replacing the second component by another component; and

determining updated calibration data based on the initial calibration data and the modification data, wherein the updated calibration data describes a modified spatial relation between the first section of interest of the first component and the second section of interest of the first component or of the second component of a modified setup of the multi-component medical system, wherein for each component of the initial setup that remains in the modified setup, the spatial relation between the first section of interest and the second section of interest is adopted from the initial calibration data.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the modification of the initial setup comprises:

an alteration of geometric properties of at least one component.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the modification data comprises acquiring occurrence data describing an occurrence of the modification via:

a manual input from an operator; and/or

an analysis of image data received from at least one camera adapted to observe the multi-component medical system;

indicating that a modification of the initial setup of the multi-component medical system has occurred.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the modification data comprises acquiring modification data that describes a spatial relation between the first section of interest and the second section of interest of each component of the modified setup:

that was not included in the initial setup; and/or

a geometric property of which has been altered as compared to the initial setup.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the modification data comprises:

acquiring the modification data from a database including data describing the spatial relation between the first section of interest and the second section of interest of one or more components of the multi-component medical system; and/or

acquiring the modification data via an analysis of image data received from at least one camera adapted to observe the multi-component medical system and/or wherein operator guidance is output to establish at least one spatial position of the multi-component medical system with respect to the at least one camera allowing for a sufficient image analysis.

6 . The method according to claim 1 further comprising, for at least one component of the modified setup, determining updated calibration data only for parameters of the modified spatial relation that have been altered as compared to the initial setup.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the initial calibration data comprises acquiring initial calibration data for a first component of the multi-component medical system comprising at least one handle portion adapted to apply force and/or torque on a medical tool or medical implant and, for a second component of the multi-component medical system comprising at least one medical tool or medical implant, respectively.

8 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to update a calibration of a multi-component medical system by:

acquiring initial calibration data that describes an initial spatial relation between a first section of interest and a second section of interest of each component of an initial setup including two or more components of the multi-component medical system, wherein:

a first section of interest of a first component includes at least one tracking marker configured to be recognized by a tracking system;

a second section of interest of the first component and a first section of interest of a second component includes functional portions configured to releasably connect to each other; and

a second section of interest of the second component includes a functional portion configured to interact with a patient's anatomy and/or another functional portion of the multi-component medical system;

acquiring modification data that describes a modification of the initial setup of the multi-component medical system by adding, removing or replacing the second component by another component; and

determining updated calibration data based on the initial calibration data and the modification data, wherein the updated calibration data describes a modified spatial relation between the first section of interest of the first component and the second section of interest of eachthe first component or of the second component of a modified setup of the multi-component medical system, wherein for each component of the initial setup that remains in the modified setup, the spatial relation between the first section of interest and the second section of interest is adopted from the initial calibration data.

9 . A medical system, comprising:

at least one computer comprising at least one processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions that when executed by the at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to update a calibration of a multi-component medical system including first and second components by:

acquiring initial calibration data that describes an initial spatial relation between a first section of interest and a second section of interest of each component of an initial setup including two or more components of the multi-component medical system, wherein:

a first section of interest of the first component includes at least one tracking marker configured to be recognized by a tracking system;

a second section of interest of the first component and a first section of interest of the second component includes functional portions configured to releasably connect to each other; and

a second section of interest of the second component includes a functional portion configured to interact with a patient's anatomy and/or another functional portion of the multi-component medical system;

acquiring modification data that describes a modification of the initial setup of the multi-component medical system by adding, removing or replacing the second component by another component; and

determining updated calibration data based on the initial calibration data and the modification data, wherein the updated calibration data describes a modified spatial relation between the first section of interest of the first component and the second section of interest of the first component or of the second component of a modified setup of the multi-component medical system releasably coupled to each other, wherein for each component of the initial setup that remains in the modified setup, the spatial relation between the first section of interest and the second section of interest is adopted from the initial calibration data;

at least one electronic data storage device storing at least the initial calibration data; and

a medical navigation system operable to carry out a medical procedure on the patient, wherein the at least one computer is operably coupled to:

the at least one electronic data storage device for acquiring, from the at least one data storage device, at least the initial calibration data, and

the medical navigation system for issuing a control signal to the medical navigation system for controlling the operation of the medical navigation system on the basis of the updated calibration data.