Method and system for aligning a prosthesis during surgery

Abstract

Presented are methods and systems for determining, monitoring, and displaying the relative positioning of two rigid bodies during surgery. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for positioning a prosthesis relative to a bone during a surgery as well as to systems and methods for verifying resulting relative positioning of adjacent bones.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for intra-operative surgical measurement and display of relative position of an object with respect to the anatomy of a patient comprising:
 a first sensor unit configured for coupling to a body part of the patient;   a second sensor unit configured for coupling to the object;   wherein at least one of the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit is configured to provide a signal representing position and an other of the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit comprises an optical sensor configured to receive the signal in a field of view aligned with a surgical site;   a processing component configured to: receive sensor information from the optical sensor; determine the relative position and display information in accordance with the sensor information; and   a display unit for receiving and presenting the display information.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the body part is a bone. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the bone is one of a pelvis and a femur. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the object is one of a surgical tool, an implant and another body part of the patient. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the surgical tool is one of a tool for joint replacement surgery, a tool for joint resurfacing surgery and a tool for joint revision surgery. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the first sensor unit or second sensor unit comprises an interface to receive user input for invoking the processing component to perform. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the second sensor unit comprises the interface to receive user input and wherein said second sensor unit is coupled to a stylus. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the first sensor unit comprises the optical sensor and wherein the second sensor unit is configured to provide the signal. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the second sensor unit comprises at least one marker comprising a light source to provide the signal. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the second sensor unit comprises at least one marker configured to reflect a light source to provide the signal. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the optical sensor is adapted to determine the sensor information from the signal. 
     
     
         12 . A method for performing a surgical procedure under intra-operative navigational guidance, comprising:
 using a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit to generate sensor information for determining a relative position of a body part of a patient and an object at a surgical site of the surgical procedure, wherein the sensor information is communicated to a processing component configured to determine the relative position and display information in accordance with the sensor information; and   wherein,
 the first sensor unit is coupled to the body part; 
 the second sensor unit is coupled to the object; and 
 at least one of the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit is configured to provide a signal representing position and an other of the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit comprises an optical sensor configured to receive the signal in a field of view aligned with the surgical site and communicate the sensor information to the processing component. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  comprising receiving the display information via a display unit in communication with the processing component. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  comprising coupling the first sensor unit to the body part. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  comprising coupling the second sensor unit to the object. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  comprising moving at least one of the body part and the object at the surgical site in the field of view and repeating the steps of using and communicating to further determine the relative position for displaying during the surgical procedure. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the body part is a bone. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the bone is one of a pelvis and a femur. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the object is one of a surgical tool, an implant and another body part of the patient. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the surgical tool is one of a tool for joint replacement surgery, a tool for joint resurfacing surgery and a tool for joint revision surgery. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the first sensor unit or second sensor unit comprises an interface to receive user input for invoking the processing component to perform and the method comprises using the interface. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 12  comprising performing registration using the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit to determine the position of the first sensor unit relative to one or more anatomical references for the patient. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the display information presents the relative position in association with the one or more anatomical references. 
     
     
         24 . A system for intra-operative surgical measurement and display for the relative position of an object with respect to a pelvis of a patient in total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgery, the system comprising:
 an optical sensor configured for coupling to the pelvis to position a field of view of the optical sensor in alignment with a surgical site for the THA;   a sensor unit configured for coupling to the object and to provide a signal for measuring position, the signal provided for receiving by the optical sensor;   a processing component configured to: receive sensor information from the optical sensor; determine the relative position in accordance with the sensor information: and determine display information representing the relative position; and   a display unit for receiving and presenting the display information   
     
     
         25 . A method for performing a total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgery under intra-operative navigational guidance, comprising:
 orienting an optical sensor coupled to a pelvis of the patient to position a field of view of the optical sensor in alignment with a surgical site for the THA surgery;   moving an object coupled to a sensor unit into the field of view, the sensor unit configured to provide to the optical sensor a signal for measuring position;   using the optical sensor and sensor unit to generate measurements for determining a relative position of the optical sensor to one or more anatomical references for the patient, wherein the optical sensor communicates the measurements to a processing component configured to determine the relative position and determine display information representing the relative position.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  comprising receiving the display information during the THA surgery via a display unit in communication with the processing component. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  comprising:
 moving at the surgical site in the field of view a second object comprising a sensor unit configured to provide position signals; 
 using the optical sensor to generate further measurements in accordance with the position signals, the optical sensor communicating the further measurements to the processing component to further determine the relative position of the second object and the pelvis for displaying during the THA surgery. 
 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the second object is one of a surgical tool, an implant and another body part of the patient. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25  comprising performing registration using the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit to determine the position of the first sensor unit relative to the one or more anatomical references for the patient.