IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,597,153
Granted Patent B2
US 12,597,153 · App. 18/659,793 · Granted Apr 7, 2026

Method for optically calibrating an instrument drill tip

Inventors: Scott A. Merritt (Green Lane, PA); Justin Blaber (Lowell, MA); Sarah O'Brien (Pottstown, PA)
Assignee: X-Nav Technologies, LLC
G06T7/596A61B17/1615A61B34/10G06T7/13G16H40/40A61B2017/00057A61B2017/00725A61B2034/102G06T2207/10012
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,597,153
App. No.
18/659,793
Filed
May 9, 2024
Granted
Apr 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3775
USPC
606/80
Abstract

A visual guidance system for use in a surgical procedure include a calibration operation of a tip of a surgical drill. In particular, the system includes capturing images of a drill tip and generating a reconstruction volume shape of the drill tip to enable tracking of the drill tip. The system captures images of the drill tip in tilting motion to determine cutting edge contour data of the drill tip. The system further captures images of the drill tip in rotation and identifies point cloud data of the drill tip. The system further includes generating a three-dimensional surface data of the drill tip, a cutting plane, and a cutting edge contour of the drill tip. Given the three dimensional surface data and plane data, the system further generates guidance data for providing a navigation on surgical procedure using three-dimensional graphical representation of the surgical drill.

Claims (66)

1 . A method of calibrating a tip on an instrument using a microprocessor system, the method comprising steps of:

capturing a first set of image data using at least one camera in communication with the microprocessor system, wherein the first set of image data includes the instrument, and the instrument includes the tip and a stem connected to the tip;

generating, based on the first set of image data, a reconstruction volume shape of the tip;

capturing a second set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

determining, based on a plane along an edge of the tip captured in the second set of image data and the reconstruction volume shape, cutting edge contour data of the tip;

capturing a third set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

generating, based on the third set of image data, three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip;

generating, based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip, a set of cutting planes;

generating, based on the set of cutting planes, guidance data for use in navigating a surgical procedure using the instrument; and

storing the guidance data in a tip database on a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first set of image data depicts the tip of the instrument touching a reference sheet and geometric pattern data indicated on the instrument, and the first set of image data includes a plurality of image frame data.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reconstruction volume shape represents a bounding box sized to include the tip and the stem of the instrument, and a location of the tip is on a surface of the reconstruction volume shape.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second set of image data corresponds to the tip repeatedly tilting along the plane along the edge of the tip, the tip is at a center of the tilting.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the third set of image data indicates the tip rotating relative to a longitudinal axis of the stem of the instrument.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the set of cutting planes includes a main cutting plane, an orthogonal plane of symmetry, and final planes,

the main cutting plane is based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip using a Principal Component Analysis, the orthogonal plane of symmetry is based on symmetry constraint of the tip, and

the final planes are based on a combination of the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip of the instrument and the cutting edge contour data of the instrument.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance data includes data describing a location and orientation of the tip of the instrument for displaying on a display, and

the guidance data includes the three-dimensional tip surface data and the set of cutting planes for displaying the three-dimensional tip surface data superimposed on the displayed image from the at least one camera in real time.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera includes a stereo camera.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the tip represents a piezoelectric drill tip of a drill.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the generating three-dimensional tip surface data further comprises performing Principal Component Analysis on a plurality of three-dimensional points extracted from the third set of image data.

11 . A system for calibrating a tip of an instrument, the system comprises a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium and a microprocessor, the computer-readable recording medium including instructions that cause the processor to execute operations comprising:

capturing a first set of image data using at least one camera, wherein the first set of image data includes the instrument, and the instrument includes the tip and a stem connected to the tip;

generating, based on the first set of image data, a reconstruction volume shape of the tip;

capturing a second set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

determining, based on a plane along an edge of the tip captured in the second set of image data and the reconstruction volume shape, cutting edge contour data of the tip;

capturing a third set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

generating, based on the third set of image data, three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip;

generating, based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip, a set of cutting planes;

generating, based on the set of cutting planes, guidance data for use in navigating a surgical procedure using the instrument; and

storing the guidance data in a tip database.

12 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the first set of image data depicts the tip of the instrument touching a reference sheet and geometric pattern data indicated on the instrument, and the first set of image data includes a plurality of image frame data.

13 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the reconstruction volume shape represents a bounding box sized to include the tip and the stem of the instrument, and a location of the tip is on a surface of the reconstruction volume shape.

14 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the second set of image data corresponds to the tip repeatedly tilting along the plane along the edge of the tip, the tip is at a center of the tilting, and

the third set of image data indicates the tip rotating relative to a longitudinal axis of the stem of the instrument.

15 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the set of cutting planes includes a main cutting plane, an orthogonal plane of symmetry, and final planes,

the main cutting plane is based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip using a Principal Component Analysis, the orthogonal plane of symmetry is based on symmetry constraint of the tip, and

the final planes are based on a combination of the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip of the instrument and the cutting edge contour data of the instrument.

16 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the guidance data includes data describing a location and orientation of the tip of the instrument for displaying on a display, and

the guidance data includes the three-dimensional tip surface data and the set of cutting planes for displaying the three-dimensional tip surface data superimposed on the displayed image from the at least one camera in real time.

17 . A device for calibrating a tip of an instrument, the device comprises a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium and a microprocessor, the computer-readable recording medium including instructions that cause the processor to execute operations comprising:

capturing a first set of image data using at least one camera, wherein the first set of image data includes the instrument, and the instrument includes the tip and a stem connected to the tip;

generating, based on the first set of image data, a reconstruction volume shape of the tip;

capturing a second set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

determining, based on a plane along an edge of the tip captured in the second set of image data and the reconstruction volume shape, cutting edge contour data of the tip;

capturing a third set of image data of the tip of the instrument while the tip is moved using the at least one camera;

generating, based on the third set of image data, three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip;

generating, based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip, a set of cutting planes;

generating, based on the set of cutting planes, guidance data for use in navigating a surgical procedure using the instrument; and

storing the guidance data in a tip database.

18 . The device according to claim 17 ,

wherein the first set of image data depicts the tip of the instrument touching a reference sheet and geometric pattern data indicated on the instrument, and the first set of image data includes a plurality of image frame data,

the reconstruction volume shape represents a bounding box sized to include the tip and the stem of the instrument, and a location of the tip is on a surface of the reconstruction volume shape,

the second set of image data corresponds to the tip repeatedly tilting along the plane along the edge of the tip, the tip is at a center of the tilting, and

the third set of image data indicates the tip rotating relative to a longitudinal axis of the stem of the instrument.

19 . The device according to claim 17 ,

wherein the set of cutting planes includes a main cutting plane, an orthogonal plane of symmetry, and final planes,

the main cutting plane is based on the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip using a Principal Component Analysis,

the orthogonal plane of symmetry is based on symmetry constraint of the tip, and

the final planes are based on a combination of the three-dimensional tip surface data of the tip of the instrument and the cutting edge contour data of the instrument.

20 . The device according to claim 17 ,

wherein the guidance data includes data describing a location and orientation of the tip of the instrument for displaying on a display, and the guidance data includes the three-dimensional tip surface data and the set of cutting planes for displaying the three-dimensional tip surface data superimposed on the displayed image from the at least one camera in real time,

the at least one camera includes a stereo camera,

the tip represents a piezoelectric drill tip of a drill, and

the generating three-dimensional tip surface data further comprises performing Principal Component Analysis on a plurality of three-dimensional points extracted from the third set of image data.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 16, 2024
From: MERRITT, SCOTT A.; BLABER, JASON; O'BRIEN, SARAH
To: X-NAV TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 068307/0455 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250349021A1 · Nov 13, 2025
References Cited (5)
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US 10350008B2 · Gibbs et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 11510638B2 · Merritt · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20200051280A1 · Urban · 2020 [cited by examiner]