IP Library Granted Patent US 12,588,950
Granted Patent B2
US 12,588,950 · App. 18/327,420 · Granted Mar 31, 2026

Trajectory planning for minimally invasive therapy delivery using local mesh geometry

Inventor: Lyubomir Zagorchev (Burlington, MA)
Assignee: ClearPoint Neuro, Inc.
A61B34/10G16H20/40G16H50/50A61B2034/105A61B2034/107
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,588,950
App. No.
18/327,420
Granted
Mar 31, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for determining surgical trajectories (including target points and entry points) for delivering therapy to a patient's brain using a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the patient's brain (including the patient's scalp, skull, and brain) adapted from imaging data (e.g., MRI data, CT data, etc.) of the patient's brain.

Claims (76)

1 . A method, comprising:

adapting a shape-constrained deformable brain model to a head scan of a patient to generate a patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

selecting a target 3D mesh brain region from the patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

defining a local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain region by performing principal component analysis (PCA) on mesh vertices of the target 3D mesh brain region;

defining 3D mesh sub-regions for the target 3D mesh brain region utilizing the local coordinate system such that at least one of:

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal length along a long axis of the target 3D mesh brain region, or

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal volume;

defining one or more target points within each 3D mesh sub-region of the target 3D mesh brain region using the local coordinate system;

determining a trajectory for the target points;

determining one or more entry points for the trajectory;

generating a graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points; and

displaying, on a graphical user interface (GUI), the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain region comprises:

deriving eigen vectors and eigen values from the PCA to define the local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain mesh region.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the local coordinate system is oriented along the long axis of the target 3D mesh brain mesh region.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trajectory for the target points is determined using a direction vector originating at the target points.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the one or more entry points for the trajectory comprises:

extending the direction vector to mesh boundary surfaces representing one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp; and

using line-mesh intersection in 3D to determine the one or more entry points at the one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the one or more target points within each 3D mesh sub-region of the target 3D mesh brain region using the local coordinate system comprises:

fitting a regression line to the target points.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the one or more entry points for the trajectory comprises:

extending the regression line to mesh boundary surfaces representing one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp; and

using line-mesh intersection in 3D to determine the one or more entry points at the one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the head scan comprises image data of the patient's brain.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points comprises at least one of:

displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points relative to the patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain; or

displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points overlaid on the head scan of the patient.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the target 3D mesh brain region represents a subcortical structure; and

the 3D mesh sub-regions represent sub-regions of the subcortical structure.

11 . A system comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI);

one or more processing resources; and

non-transitory computer-readable memory, coupled to the one or more processing resources, having stored therein instructions that when executed by the one or more processing resources cause the system to perform a method comprising:

adapting a shape-constrained deformable brain model to a head scan of a patient to generate a patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

selecting a target 3D mesh brain region from the patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

defining a local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain region by performing principal component analysis (PCA) on mesh vertices of the target 3D mesh brain region;

defining 3D mesh sub-regions for the target 3D mesh brain region utilizing the local coordinate system such that at least one of:

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal length along a long axis of the target 3D mesh brain region, or

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal volume;

defining one or more target points within each 3D mesh sub-region of the target 3D mesh brain region using the local coordinate system;

determining a trajectory for the target points;

determining one or more entry points for the trajectory;

generating a graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points; and

displaying, on the GUI, the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein defining the local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain region comprises:

deriving eigen vectors and eigen values from the PCA to define the local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain mesh region.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the local coordinate system is oriented along the long axis of the target 3D mesh brain mesh region.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the trajectory for the target points is determined using a direction vector originating at the target points.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein determining the one or more entry points for the trajectory comprises:

extending the direction vector to mesh boundary surfaces representing one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp; and

using line-mesh intersection in 3D to determine the one or more entry points at the one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein defining the one or more target points within each 3D mesh sub-region of the target 3D mesh brain region using the local coordinate system comprises:

fitting a regression line to the target points.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein determining the one or more entry points for the trajectory comprises:

extending the regression line to mesh boundary surfaces representing one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp; and

using line-mesh intersection in 3D to determine the one or more entry points at the one of the patient's skull and the patient's scalp.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points comprises at least one of:

displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points relative to the patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain; or

displaying the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points overlaid on the head scan of the patient.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the target 3D mesh brain region represents a subcortical structure; and

the 3D mesh sub-regions represent sub-regions of the subcortical structure.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising:

adapting a shape-constrained deformable brain model to a head scan of a patient's brain to generate a patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

selecting a target 3D mesh brain region from the patient-specific 3D mesh representation of the patient's brain;

defining a local coordinate system for the target 3D mesh brain region by performing principal component analysis (PCA) on mesh vertices of the target 3D mesh brain region;

defining 3D mesh sub-regions for the target 3D mesh brain region utilizing the local coordinate system such that at least one of:

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal length along a long axis of the target 3D mesh brain region, or

the 3D mesh sub-regions have substantially equal volume;

defining one or more target points within the target 3D mesh brain region using the local coordinate system;

determining a trajectory for the one or more target points;

determining one or more entry points for the trajectory;

generating a graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points; and

displaying, on a graphical user interface (GUI), the graphical representation of the trajectory and the one or more entry points.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 13, 2025
From: CLEARPOINT NEURO, INC.
To: CALW SA LLC, AS PURCHASER AGENT
Reel/Frame 071276/0191 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 1, 2023
From: ZAGORCHEV, LYUBOMIR
To: CLEARPOINT NEURO, INC.
Reel/Frame 063829/0377 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63348359 · Jun 2, 2022
Related Publication 20230389989A1 · Dec 7, 2023
References Cited (7)
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