Surgical instrument and method for detecting the position of a surgical instrument

1. A surgical instrument comprising:

an elongate instrument handle having a proximal end and a distal end;

an elongate straight instrument shaft connected to the distal end of the instrument handle and defining an instrument axis, the instrument shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the instrument shaft being connected to the instrument handle, the instrument shaft being bendable in response to a force component acting perpendicular to the instrument axis;

a narrow angled instrument tip integrally connected to the distal end of the straight instrument shaft, the angled instrument tip having a work point which is configured to elastically deform away from the instrument axis;

a first locator arranged at the instrument handle, wherein the first locator comprises a position sensor having two coils and configured to detect six degrees of freedom; and

a second locator arranged at the distal end of the straight instrument shaft adjacent to the instrument tip, wherein the second locator comprises a position sensor having one coil, has smaller dimensions than the first locator, and is configured to detect five degrees of freedom, wherein the first locator is arranged closer to the proximal end of the handle than the second locator, and the second locator is arranged at a distance from the first locator closer to the work point, and wherein the instrument shaft is bendable between the first locator and the distal end of the instrument shaft during use of the surgical instrument.

2. The surgical instrument ofclaim 1 , wherein the second locator has a diameter of less than 0.5 mm.

3. The surgical instrument of claim 2 , wherein the second locator has a diameter of less than 0.4 mm.

4. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the first locator has at least one reflector for light waves or sound waves.

5. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the instrument shaft has greater flexibility than the instrument handle.

6. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the surgical instrument has a memory unit for storing relative location data of the second locator relative to the first locator, for storing relative location data of the work point relative to the second locator, for storing relative location data of the work point relative to the first locator, or a combination thereof.

7. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the second locator is arranged within an external contour of the surgical instrument.

8. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the second locator is arranged in the distal end of the instrument shaft so as to be at a distance of less than 2 cm from the work point.

9. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the first locator and the second locator are arranged at the surgical instrument such that a position detection system is configured to identify the type of employed surgical instrument on the basis of characteristic values relating to surgical instruments and the respective arrangement of the first locator and the second locator at the surgical instrument.

10. A position detection system for establishing the position of one or more surgical instruments, comprising:

the surgical instrument of claim 1 ;

an electromagnetic field generator correlated to a reference coordinate system;

an evaluation unit for establishing the position of locators arranged in the position detection system, wherein the evaluation unit is configured to determine an instrument-specific calibration vector from the second locator to the work point in a coordinate system of the first locator where the instrument shaft is straight relative to the instrument axis, and wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to determine a location and direction of the work point in the reference coordinate system by transforming a coordinate of the second locator in the reference coordinate system, displaced by the calibration vector, into the coordinate system of the first locator; and

a display unit for displaying at least one of the one or more surgical instruments in its true position.

11. The position detection system of claim 10 , wherein the determination of the calibration vector is performed prior to elastic deformation of the instrument shaft, and wherein the transformation for determination of the location and direction of the work point is performed at each measurement cycle.

12. The position detection system of claim 10 , wherein the second locator supplies a location and the first locator supplies a direction for the transformation of the work point.

13. The position detection system of claim 10 , wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to store the calibration vector in an instrument memory unit, and to determine the location and alignment of the work point in the reference coordinate system after reading out the calibration vector from the instrument memory unit.

14. The position detection system of claim 10 , wherein the position detection system is configured to identify the type of surgical instrument on the basis of characteristic values relating to surgical instruments and the respective arrangement of the first locator and the second locator on the one or more surgical instruments.

15. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the elongate instrument handle is cylindrical, the elongate straight instrument shaft is in the form of a stepped cone, and the angled instrument tip is smaller than the distal end of the instrument shaft.

16. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the part of the angled instrument tip between the second locator and the work point is less flexible than the remaining part of the angled instrument tip.

17. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the instrument shaft is detachably connected to the distal end of the instrument handle.