Method and Apparatus for Computer Aided Surgery

Abstract

A number of improvements are provided relating to computer aided surgery. The improvement relates to both the methods used during computer aided surgery and the devices used during such procedures. Some of the improvement relate to controlling the selection of which data to display during a procedure and/or how the data is displayed to aid the surgeon. Other improvements relate to the structure of the tools used during a procedure and how the tools can be controlled automatically to improve the efficiency of the procedure. Still other improvements relate to methods of providing feedback during a procedure to improve either the efficiency or quality, or both, for a procedure.

1 . A method for displaying patient information during a surgical procedure, comprising the steps of: 
 creating a three dimensional representation of a portion of a patient to which a procedure is to be performed;    identifying a portion of the three dimensional representation corresponding to a portion of tissue for which a surgical procedure is to be performed;    displaying an orientation of the three dimensional representation during a surgical procedure    performing a surgical procedure on the portion of the patient, using a surgical tool;    tracking the surgical tool during the surgical procedure to obtain data regarding the position and orientation of the surgical tool relative to the patient;    varying the display of the three dimensional representation during the surgical procedure in response to the data obtain during the tracking step.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of varying the display comprises varying the orientation of the three dimensional representation displayed.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  comprising the step of tracking data for a user regarding information input into a surgical system by the user in connection with one or more surgical procedures, wherein the step of varying the display comprises the step of varying the display in response to both the data obtained during the step of tracking the tool and the data obtained during the step of tracking the data for the user.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  comprising the step of manually altering the orientation of the three dimensional representation during the surgical procedure.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the step of manually altering the orientation comprises operation a control on the surgical tool.  
     
     
         6 . An input device operable in connection with a position tracking system for identifying the three-dimensional location of reference points for a patient, comprising: 
 a body having a surface for manually grasping the device;    a tip for identifying a reference point for the patient;    a tracking element for tracking the position of the tip; and    a sensor for detecting whether the tip is in contact with the patient.    
     
     
         7 . The input device of  claim 6  wherein the tip is a marking element for marking the surface of tissue of the patient.  
     
     
         8 . The input device of  claim 6  wherein the sensor is an impedance sensor or a force sensor.  
     
     
         9 . The input device of  claim 6  comprising an operative link between the input device and the position tracking system, whereby data from the sensor indicative of whether the tip is in contact with the patient is communicated to the position tracking system via the operative link.  
     
     
         10 . The input device of  claim 9 , wherein the position tracking system ignores data regarding the position of the tip in response to data from the sensor indicating that the tip is not in contact with the patient.  
     
     
         11 . A registration block operable in connection with a surgical tool that is connectable with a surgical instrument having a tracking element operable to track the position of the surgical instrument, comprising; 
 a body;    a socket in the body configured to cooperate with a tip of the surgical tool, wherein the socket has a bottom; and    a position tracking element mounted on the body;    wherein the position of the bottom of the socket relative to the position of the position tracking element is pre-determined such that displacing a tip of the surgical tool into engagement with the bottom of the socket identifies the position of the tip relative to the position tracking element of the block, which in turn identifies the position of the tip relative to the tracking element of the surgical instrument.    
     
     
         12 . The registration block of  claim 11  comprising a plurality of sockets in the body configured to cooperate with a plurality of surgical tools, each having a tip, wherein each socket has a bottom and the position of the bottom of each socket relative to the position of the position tracking element is predetermined.  
     
     
         13 . The registration block of  claim 11  comprising a sensor in the socket to detect the tip of the tool.  
     
     
         14 . The registration block of  claim 11  operable in connection with a tracking system wherein the tracking system tracks the position of the position tracking element on the body relative to the tracking element on the surgical instrument to detect the position of the tip of the surgical tool relative to the tracking element.  
     
     
         15 . The registration block of  claim 11  wherein the tracking system detects the position of the surgical tool by tracking the velocity of movement of the position tracking element on the body relative to the tracking element on the surgical instrument.  
     
     
         16 . A method for performing a computer assisted surgical procedure, comprising the steps of; 
 performing a surgical procedure on a surgical site comprising a portion of a patient;    assessing the surgical site to obtain data regarding the portion of the patient after the surgical procedure is performed;    communicating the data with a microprocessor;    using the microprocessor to analyze the data to determine whether one or more procedures need to be performed on the patient.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  comprising the step of analyzing the data and suggesting a procedure to be performed on the surgical site.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the step of assessing the surgical site comprises the steps of: 
 providing an evaluation tool; and    engaging the portion of the patient with the evaluation tool after the surgical procedure has been performed.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the method comprises the step of displacing the evaluation tool relative to the portion of the patient, and tracking the movement of the evaluation tool during the step of displacing the evaluation tool.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the method of assessing the surgical site comprises analyzing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the surgical site.  
     
     
         21 . A surgical instrument comprising; 
 a cutting tool having a cutting tip for cutting tissue;    a drive mechanism for driving the cutting tool;    an alignment element positioned adjacent the cutting tip, wherein the alignment element comprises an anchoring element for piercing the tissue to align the cutting tip at a desired location relative to the tissue.    
     
     
         22 . The surgical instrument of  claim 21  wherein the alignment element is operable to anchor the surgical instrument relative to the tissue of the patient to impede rotation of the surgical instrument relative to the tissue about of one axis, while allowing rotation of the surgical instrument relative to the tissue about a second axis.  
     
     
         23 . The surgical instrument of  claim 22  wherein the alignment element comprises a pointed tip.  
     
     
         24 . The surgical instrument of  claim 22  wherein the pointed tip is positioned adjacent the cutting tip such that the cutting tip projects beyond the tip of the cutting tool.  
     
     
         25 . The surgical tool of  claim 21  comprising a retraction mechanism for controlling the position of the alignment element, wherein in a first position the alignment mechanism projects beyond the tip of the cutting tool, and wherein in a second position the alignment mechanism is displaced rearwardly from the first position so that the tip of the cutting tool project beyond the alignment mechanism.