Surgical Navigation System
A surgical navigation system is disclosed including a camera that is fixedly attached to a patient. The camera space merges with the patient space and thereby eliminates the need for a separate patient tracker. The surgical navigation system calculates the position of a surgical tool with a tracking device in view of the camera and shows on a display device the position of the surgical tool with respect to the patient superimposed and in correlation with a scan image of the patient.
1 .- 11 . (canceled)
12 . A surgical navigation camera comprising:
a camera having a known focus; and
means for attaching the camera in a fixed position to a patient.
13 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 12 , further comprising:
fiducial markers associated in a fixed pre-defined position with respect to the camera.
14 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 13 , wherein the camera has a fixed focus.
15 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 13 , wherein the fiducial markers are disposed on a body of the camera.
16 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 13 , wherein the fiducial markers are disposed on the means for attaching.
17 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 16 , wherein the means for attaching comprises a resilient base plate fixedly attached to the camera and adhesive on the resilient base plate.
18 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 12 , wherein the means for attaching comprises pins adapted to be attached to the resilient base plate and inserted into bone of the patient.
19 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 12 , wherein the camera includes a validation and calibration feature in a known position in relation to the focus.
20 - 23 . (canceled)
24 . The surgical navigation camera of claim 12 , wherein the camera has a known optical geometry.
25 . A surgical navigation camera assembly comprising:
a camera having a known focus; and
an attachment mechanism adapted to attach the camera in a fixed position to a patient.
26 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 25 , wherein the attachment mechanism is a non-invasive attachment mechanism.
27 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 26 , wherein the non-invasive attachment mechanism includes an adhesive.
28 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 27 , including a resilient base plate having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the camera is disposed on the top surface of the resilient base plate and the adhesive is disposed on the bottom surface of the resilient base plate.
29 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 25 , including a resilient base plate, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises pins adapted to be attached to the resilient base plate and inserted into bone of the patient.
30 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 25 , wherein the camera includes a validation and calibration feature in a known position in relation to the focus.
31 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 25 , further comprising:
one or more fiducial markers associated in a fixed pre-defined position with respect to the camera.
32 . The surgical navigation camera assembly of claim 31 , wherein the camera includes a body and the one or more fiducial markers are disposed on the body of the camera.
33 . A surgical navigation camera assembly, the camera assembly comprising:
a top surface and a bottom surface;
an attachment mechanism adapted to attach the bottom surface to a patient; and
a camera having a field of view pointing in a direction that is outwardly away from the bottom surface, the camera having a known focus.
34 . A camera assembly according to claim 33 , the camera having an image plane that is substantially parallel to the top surface.
35 . A camera assembly according to claim 33 , further comprising one or more fiducial markers associated in a fixed pre-defined position with respect to the camera.