System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument

Abstract

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body, including a medical instrument, a reference mount attachable to the patient's body for movement with the patient's body, and an electromagnetic unit for association with the reference mount and the medical instrument for monitoring movement of the medical instrument relative to the reference mount. The electromagnetic unit includes a first member attachable to the patient's body and a second member attachable to the medical instrument. The first and second members communicate by electromagnetic radiation.

1 - 29 . (canceled)  
   
   
       30 . A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body, comprising: 
 a medical instrument;    a reference mount attachable to the patient's body, and    an electromagnetic unit for monitoring movement of the medical instrument relative to the reference mount, the electromagnetic unit including a first member attachable to the patient's body and a second member attachable to the medical instrument, the first and second members communicating by electromagnetic radiation.    
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the first member is attachable to the patient's body by the reference mount.  
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the reference mount is attachable to patient's body in a repeatable fashion.  
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the reference mount comprises a headset.  
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the headset is configured for attachment to the patient's head at at least three points of contact.  
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the headset is configured for use during scanning and surgery to provide registration with a computer image during surgery.  
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 33  further comprising markers coupled to the headset for providing reference points on computer images of the head.  
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the medical instrument comprises an aspirator.  
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the aspirator defines an instrument mount for receiving the second member.  
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 30  further comprising a position detection unit for producing position data responsive to an output signal from the second member.  
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 39  further comprising an image storage unit including image data representing a plurality of images of the patient's body.  
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 40  further comprising a registration unit for relating the position data and the image data to select an image of the patient's body.  
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the first member comprises an electromagnetic generator, and the second member comprises an electromagnetic receiver.  
   
   
       43 . A system for monitoring a position of an instrument with respect to an object, comprising: 
 an instrument;    a reference mount attachable to the object; and    an electromagnetic unit for monitoring movement of the instrument relative to the reference mount, the electromagnetic unit including a first member attachable to the object and a second member attachable to the instrument, the first and second members communicating by electromagnetic radiation.    
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the first member is attachable to the object by the reference mount.  
   
   
       45 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the reference mount is attachable to object in a repeatable fashion.  
   
   
       46 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the object is a patient and the reference mount comprises a headset.  
   
   
       47 . The system of  claim 46  wherein the headset is configured for attachment to the patient's head at at least three points of contact.  
   
   
       48 . The system of  claim 46  wherein the headset is configured for use during scanning and surgery to provide registration with a computer image during surgery.  
   
   
       49 . The system of  claim 43  further comprising markers coupled to the reference mount for providing reference points on computer images of the object.  
   
   
       50 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the instrument comprises a medical aspirator.  
   
   
       51 . The system of  claim 50  wherein the aspirator defines an instrument mount for receiving the second member.  
   
   
       52 . The system of  claim 43  further comprising a position detection unit for producing position data responsive to an output signal from the second member.  
   
   
       53 . The system of  claim 52  further comprising a registration unit for relating the position data and the image data to select an image of the object.  
   
   
       54 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the first member comprises an electromagnetic generator, and the second member comprises an electromagnetic receiver.  
   
   
       55 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the reference mount is configured to provide non-invasive registration of the electromagnetic unit relative to a computer image.