Systems and methods for tracking objects
Systems and methods track objects within an operating room. A machine vision system includes at least one camera and a machine vision controller. A navigation system includes a camera unit including a plurality of sensor arrays. The sensor arrays include a plurality of sensing elements. For each of the plurality of sensor arrays, the navigation system identifies a first subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be active based on the position of the object and a second subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be inactive based on the position of the object. The navigation processor is also configured to track a movement of the object within the operating room using the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements while preventing the use of the second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
1. A navigation system for tracking objects within an operating room, the navigation system comprising:
at least one optical sensor; and
a controller coupled to the at least one optical sensor;
the at least one optical sensor comprising a plurality of sensing elements; and
a navigation processor coupled to the at least one optical sensor and to the controller, wherein the navigation processor is configured to:
receive data indicative of a position of an object within an operating room from the controller;
for the at least one optical sensor, identify a first subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be active based on the position of the object and a second subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be inactive based on the position of the object; and
track a movement of the object within the operating room using each first subset of the plurality of sensing elements while preventing use of each second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
2. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the navigation processor is configured to receive updated data from a camera controller indicative of a new position of the object within the operating room, and update the first and second subsets of the plurality of sensing elements based on the updated data from the controller.
3. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an expected movement of the object within the operating room, and transmit data representative of the expected movement of the object to the navigation processor.
4. The navigation system of claim 3 , wherein the navigation processor is configured to identify the first and second subsets of the plurality of sensing elements based on the expected movement of the object.
5. The navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising an array of gating devices that are used to prevent the navigation processor from processing the second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
6. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the navigation processor is further configured to:
identify a third subset of the plurality of sensing elements; and
use the third subset of the plurality of sensing elements when tracking the movement of the object within the operating room.
7. The navigation system of claim 6 , further comprising a video camera having a sensor and arranged to have a full view of the operating room, wherein the navigation processor is configured to identify the third subset of the plurality of sensing elements based on determining a portion of the video camera sensor in which the object appears.
8. The navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising an optic element disposed between the at least one optical sensor and the object, where the optic element focuses on energy on the plurality of sensing elements.
9. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein using each first subset of the plurality of sensing elements comprises reading out values from the active sensing elements corresponding to an amount of energy incident on each of the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements;
and wherein preventing use of each second subset of the plurality of sensing elements comprises not reading out values from the inactive second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
10. The navigation system of claim 7 , wherein the video camera and the at least one optical sensor comprise a same optical sensing technology.
11. A method of tracking objects within an operating room with a navigation system including a camera unit including a plurality of optical sensors, a controller in communication with the plurality of optical sensors, wherein each optical sensor includes a plurality of sensing elements, the method comprising:
determining a position of an object within an operating room using the navigation system;
receiving data indicative of the position of the object from the navigation system;
for each of the plurality of optical sensors, identifying a first subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be active based on the position of the object and a second subset of the plurality of sensing elements to be inactive based on the position of the object; and
tracking a movement of the object within the operating room using each first subset of the plurality of sensing elements while preventing the use of each second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the navigation processor is configured to receive updated data from a camera controller indicative of a new position of the object within the operating room, and update the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements based on the updated data.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining an expected movement of the object within the operating room by the controller, and transmitting data representative of the expected movement of the object to the navigation processor.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising identifying, by the navigation processor, the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements based on the expected movement of the object.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising using a bit mask array to prevent processing the second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising using an array of gating devices to prevent processing the second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
for each of the plurality of optical sensors, identifying a third subset of the first plurality of sensing elements adjacent to the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements; and
using the third subset of the plurality of sensing elements when tracking the movement of the object within the operating room.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the navigation system further comprises an optic element disposed between the optical sensor and the object, where the optic element focuses energy on the plurality of sensing elements.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein using each first subset of the plurality of sensing elements comprises reading out values from the active sensing elements corresponding to an amount of energy incident on each of the first subset of the plurality of sensing elements;
and wherein preventing use of each second subset of the plurality of sensing elements comprises not reading out values from the inactive second subset of the plurality of sensing elements.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the navigation system further comprises a video camera, the plurality of optical sensors and the video camera employing a same optical sensing technology,
and wherein identifying the third subset of the first plurality of sensing elements is based on determining a portion of the video camera sensor in which the object appears.