Claims
- 1. An instrument guide unit for use in image guided surgery, comprising:
an instrument guide for guiding a surgical instrument into the body of a patient; a base unit operative to be secured to the body in an area in which surgery is to occur and said base unit being coupled to said instrument guide; and an adjustment mechanism, coupled to said base unit and said instrument guide, that is operative to adjust said instrument guide in lateral directions with respect the surface of said area.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said adjustment mechanism is operative to adjust said instrument guide in x and y directions.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said adjustment mechanism comprises an x direction control mechanism for adjusting said instrument in an x direction.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said adjustment mechanism comprises a y direction control mechanism for adjusting said instrument in an y direction.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said y direction control mechanism is coupled to said x direction control mechanism.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said x direction control mechanism moves transverse to said y direction control mechanism.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said adjustment mechanism comprises an adjustment table for adjusting said instrument guide in said lateral directions.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said base unit comprises a plate having a first attachment member for coupling to said adjustment mechanism.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said adjustment member includes a mounting base that is operative to be coupled to said plate by said first attachment member.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said plate has a second attachment member extending therefrom for anchoring in the body of said person at said area.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said plate has an opening defined therein through which a surgical instrument my pass and that extends through said first and second attachment members.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said first attachment member has threaded groves for screwing into a corresponding attachment member of said mounting base and wherein said second attachment member has threaded groves for screwing into the body at said area.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said guide tube is coupled to a guide ball, located in said adjustment mechanism, that enables said guide tube to be rotated in angular positions for adjusting the orientation of said guide tube.
- 14. A method for guiding a surgical instrument for use in image guided surgery, comprising the steps of:
determining the location of a stand-alone instrument guidance unit attached to the skull of a patient by sensing signals from tracking markers coupled to the instrument guidance unit; determining the orientation of an instrument guide of the guidance unit; and displaying image representations of the skull relative to a trajectory line defined by the orientation of the instrument guide during a surgical procedure.
- 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising determining the orientation of the instrument guide as the instrument guide is pivoted.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said orientation of the instrument guide is determined by detecting the location of tracking markers on the instrument guide.
- 17. The method of claim 14 comprising adjusting the x and y coordinate positions of the instrument guide with respect to the skull.
- 18. The method of claim 17 comprising adjusting the z coordinate position of a surgical instrument inserted in said instrument guide.
- 19. The method of claim 18 wherein positional movement of the surgical instrument in the z direction is tracked by sensing the location of a transducer coupled to the surgical instrument.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said transducer is an optical transducer.
- 21. The method of claim 19 wherein said transducer is a magnetic transducer.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/130,118 entitled “Instrument Guidance Method and System For Image Guided Surgery”, filed on Apr. 20, 1999.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60130118 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09557004 |
Apr 2000 |
US |
Child |
10271353 |
Oct 2002 |
US |