Trajectory Storage Apparatus and Method for Surgical Navigation Systems

Abstract

A method and apparatus for determining, calculating, and/or viewing a trajectory. The trajectory can be displayed on a display relative to image data of a patient. A user can use the system to determine relationships between two or more trajectories that have been determined. The relationships can be within two dimensional, three-dimensional, or four dimensional space. The relationships can include distance, angle, etc. The relationships can also be determined between real time trajectories and stored trajectories, or combinations thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a tracking device having a trackable portion;   an instrument having a first portion extending from the tracking device to be engaged by a user;   a computer to integrate a tracked trajectory of the instrument and an image; and   a display device to display an icon representing the tracked trajectory overlaid on the image.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the image is a pre-acquired image. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a navigation system having a detector to detect the tracking device.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the navigation system includes at least one of an acoustic tracking system, an optical tracking system, a LED/reflectors tracking system, or an electromagnetic tracking system. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a memory system to store at least one trajectory of the instrument;   wherein the computer is able to determine an angle between a real-time trajectory and the at least one stored trajectory.   
     
     
         6 . A method of illustrating a first trajectory and a second trajectory of an instrument, comprising:
 obtaining image data from an imaging system;   tracking an instrument with a tracking system;   displaying the image data;   displaying a first trajectory of the instrument; and   displaying a second trajectory of the instrument.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 obtaining the first trajectory at a first instrument position; and   obtaining the second trajectory at a second instrument position that is different from the first instrument position.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 storing the first trajectory in a memory.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 measuring an angle between the second trajectory and the first trajectory.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second trajectory is a real-time trajectory. 
     
     
         11 . A system for storing at least one trajectory, comprising:
 a tracking system having a detector;   a tracking device having a tracking marker to be detected by the detector;   an instrument having a first member extending from the tracking device;   a memory unit having stored therein instructions;   a central processing unit in communication with the memory unit and to execute the instructions; and   a display to display a first trajectory of the instrument and a second trajectory of the instrument;   wherein the central processing unit is operable to execute the instructions to compute geometric measurements regarding the first trajectory relative to the second trajectory.