Method, system and apparatus for maintaining patient registration in a surgical navigation system

1. A method of maintaining patient registration in a surgical navigation system, comprising:

obtaining, at a computing device, a position of a patient in a tracking system frame of reference, based on a fiducial marker array affixed in a first position relative to the patient;

receiving, at the computing device, an initial surface scan depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the first position;

prior to receiving an intraoperative image from a medical imaging device, receiving an intermediate surface scan depicting the patient;

determining a further position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on a comparison of the intermediate surface scan and the initial surface scan, by:

(i) registering the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference,

(ii) registering the initial surface scan to the intermediate surface scan,

(iii) determining, based on the registration of the initial surface scan with the intermediate surface scan, a virtual position for the fiducial marker array, and

(iv) based on the virtual position, determining the further position of the patient;

obtaining a position of the medical imaging device in the tracking system frame of reference;

selecting an imaging configuration based on a comparison of the further position and the position of the medical imaging device;

controlling the medical imaging device to capture the intraoperative image according to the imaging configuration;

responsive to capturing, by the medical imaging device, the intraoperative image depicting the patient:

obtaining a position, in the tracking system frame of reference, of the fiducial marker array affixed in a second position relative to the patient;

receiving a secondary surface scan depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the second position;

detecting a deviation in a position of the fiducial marker array relative to the patient between the initial and secondary surface scans; and

applying the deviation to the further position of the patient to generate an updated position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on the fiducial marker array affixed in the second position.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the deviation comprises:

registering the initial and secondary surface scans to a common frame of reference based on the patient as depicted in each of the initial and secondary surface scans;

determining the deviation by comparing the positions of the fiducial marker array as depicted in each of the initial and secondary surface scans.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the deviation comprises:

identifying a set of anatomical features in the patient depictions of each of the preliminary and secondary surface scans;

for each of the initial and secondary surface scans, determining a depicted position of the fiducial marker array relative to the set of anatomical features; and

determining the deviation by comparing the depicted positions from the initial and secondary surface scans.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the initial surface scan and the secondary surface scan comprises receiving point cloud data from a handheld optical scanner.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the intermediate surface scan as a point cloud data from an optical scanner mounted to the medical imaging device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein registering the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference comprises:

retrieving a preconfigured position of the optical scanner relative to the medical imaging device from a memory; and

registering the point cloud data to the tracking system frame of reference based on the position of the medical imaging device and the preconfigured position of the optical scanner.

7. A computing device for maintaining patient registration in a surgical navigation system, comprising:

a communications interface connected to an optical scanner and a medical imaging device;

a processor interconnected with the communications interface, the processor configured to:

obtain a position of a patient in a tracking system frame of reference, based on a fiducial marker array affixed in a first position relative to the patient;

receive an initial surface scan from the optical scanner, depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the first position;

prior to receiving an intraoperative image from the medical imaging device, receive an intermediate surface scan depicting the patient;

in order to determine a further position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on a comparison of the intermediate surface scan and the initial surface scan:

(i) register the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference,

(ii) register the initial surface scan to the intermediate surface scan,

(iii) determine, based on the registration of the initial surface scan with the intermediate surface scan, a virtual position for the fiducial marker array, and

(iv) based on the virtual position, determine the further position of the patient;

obtain a position of the medical imaging device in the tracking system frame of reference;

select an imaging configuration based on a comparison of the further position and the position of the medical imaging device;

control the medical imaging device to capture the intraoperative image according to the imaging configuration;

responsive to capturing, by the medical imaging device, the intraoperative image depicting the patient:

obtain a position, in the tracking system frame of reference, of the fiducial marker array affixed in a second position relative to the patient;

receive a secondary surface scan depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the second position;

detect a deviation in a position of the fiducial marker array relative to the patient between the initial and secondary surface scans; and

apply the deviation to the further position of the patient to generate an updated position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on the fiducial marker array affixed in the second position.

8. The computing device of claim 7 , the processor further configured to detect the deviation by:

registering the initial and secondary surface scans to a common frame of reference based on the patient as depicted in each of the initial and secondary surface scans;

determining the deviation by comparing the positions of the fiducial marker array as depicted in each of the initial and secondary surface scans.

9. The computing device of claim 7 , the processor further configured to detect the deviation by:

identifying a set of anatomical features in the patient depictions of each of the preliminary and secondary surface scans;

for each of the initial and secondary surface scans, determining a depicted position of the fiducial marker array relative to the set of anatomical features; and

determining the deviation by comparing the depicted positions from the initial and secondary surface scans.

10. The computing device of claim 7 , the processor further configured to receive the initial surface scan and the secondary surface scan as point cloud data from the optical scanner.

11. The computing device of claim 7 , the processor further configured to receive the intermediate surface scan as point cloud data from the optical scanner.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , the processor further configured to register the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference by:

retrieving a preconfigured position of the optical scanner relative to the medical imaging device from a memory; and

registering the point cloud data to the tracking system frame of reference based on the position of the medical imaging device and the preconfigured position of the optical scanner.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions executable by a computing device for maintaining patient registration in a surgical navigation system, wherein execution of the instructions configures the computing device to:

obtain a position of a patient in a tracking system frame of reference, based on a fiducial marker array affixed in a first position relative to the patient;

receive an initial surface scan from the surface scanner, depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the first position;

prior to receiving an intraoperative image from a medical imaging device, receive an intermediate surface scan depicting the patient;

in order to determine a further position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on a comparison of the intermediate surface scan and the initial surface scan:

(i) register the intermediate surface scan to the tracking system frame of reference,

(ii) register the initial surface scan to the intermediate surface scan,

(iii) determine, based on the registration of the initial surface scan with the intermediate surface scan, a virtual position for the fiducial marker array, and

(iv) based on the virtual position, determine the further position of the patient;

obtain a position of the medical imaging device in the tracking system frame of reference;

select an imaging configuration based on a comparison of the further position and the position of the medical imaging device; and

control the medical imaging device to capture the intraoperative image according to the imaging configuration

responsive to capturing, from the medical imaging device, the intraoperative image depicting the patient:

obtain a position, in the tracking system frame of reference, of the fiducial marker array affixed in a second position relative to the patient;

receive a secondary surface scan depicting the patient and the fiducial marker array in the second position;

detect a deviation in a position of the fiducial marker array relative to the patient between the initial and secondary surface scans; and

apply the deviation to the further position of the patient to generate an updated position of the patient in the tracking system frame of reference, based on the fiducial marker array affixed in the second position.