Fingertip tracker

1. A computer implemented method for conducting a medical exam comprising:

(a) mounting a sensor on a fingertip of a finger of a first person, wherein the sensor is communicatively coupled to a computer;

(b) calibrating the sensor using a known target;

(c) engaging the finger having the sensor to perform a medical examination directly on a second person;

(d) obtaining measurements from the sensor on the fingertip during the medical examination, wherein the measurements:

(i) relate to a position of the sensor with respect to an anatomical element of the second person; and

(ii) comprise a distance between a sensor on a left hand and a sensor on a right hand of the first person; and

(e) obtaining data based on the measurements.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises an electromagnetic motion sensor.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising correcting all data using a best-fit calibration function prior to calibrating the sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calibrating comprises:

inserting the sensor into a calibration device prior to mounting the sensor on the fingertip, wherein the calibration device comprises one or more known points;

storing coordinates of the one or more known points based on the sensor to provide one or more locations in space;

touching the one or more known points in the calibration device with the sensor mounted on the fingertip to obtain coordinates of the sensor;

subtracting the coordinates of the one or more known points from the coordinates of the sensor to provide a vector pointing from the sensor to the known point at the fingertip; and

determining a matrix based on the vector that will rotate the vector to account for a position of the fingertip.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining if an accuracy of the coordinates of the sensor are within a defined threshold; and

repeating the touching and determining steps until the accuracy of the coordinates of the sensor are within the defined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein multiple sensors are used on two or more fingertips of the user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise a distance between two sensors on a single hand of the first person.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise a distance between a midpoint of two sensors on the right hand to a midpoint of two sensors on the left hand.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement comprises a depth of an object on the second person.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data obtained comprises a plot of the measurements on a display device of the computer.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the measurements comprise reference points of a first limb that is serving as a reference to a fractured bone on a second limb of the second person; and

the data is displayed on a display device of the computer system;

the first person utilizes the fingertip having the sensor to perform a fracture reduction on the fractured bone of the second person; and

data is displayed during the fracture reduction, wherein the data indicates whether a successful reduction has been achieved based on the reference points of the first limb and the measurements obtained from the sensor during the fracture reduction.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise a path traced by the first person with the finger during the medical examination.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a range of motion of a joint of the second person.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise a length of a skeletal segment.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurements are obtained for an object that is not directly visible by a human eye.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising mounting a placement object comprised of a nub that assists the first person in finding a particular spot on the finger, wherein such a placement object enhances a precision of point localization.

17. An apparatus for conducting a medical exam comprising:

(a) a computer;

(b) a sensor adapted to be mounted on a fingertip of a finger of a first person, wherein the sensor is communicatively coupled to the computer; and

(c) a known target, wherein the sensor is calibrated using the known target;

wherein:

(i) the finger having the sensor performs a medical examination directly on a second person;

(ii) measurements are obtained from the sensor on the fingertip during the medical examination, wherein the measurements relate to a position of the sensor with respect to an anatomical element of the second person;

(iii) the measurements comprise a distance between a sensor on a left hand and a sensor on a right hand of the first person; and

(iv) data based on the measurements is obtained and provided to the computer.