BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that perform tracking of medical instruments during a navigated medical procedure.

Pedicle screw implantation has become a relatively common procedure to support a number of degenerative or acute clinical conditions of the spine. A number of pre-planning software systems have been developed to aid the implantation of these screws, predominantly by allowing the surgeon to size the width and length of screws that will be implanted during the surgery. However, screw sizes determined prior to the surgery are typically selected assuming ideal conditions such as optimal entry points and trajectory. If, during the surgery, these entry points and trajectories are not exactly matched, the screw size selected prior to surgery may not be optimal.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for generating spatial annotations within guidance images that are displayed during a guided medical procedure, where the spatial annotations provide spatial graduations indicating known length measures. The spatial measures may be employed to visually assess the sizes of anatomical and/or functional features displayed in the guidance images.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, there is provided a method of performing tracking and navigation during a medical procedure, the method comprising:

detecting, with a tracking system, signals from one or more fiducial markers associated with a medical instrument, the medical instrument comprising an elongate portion characterized by a longitudinal axis;

processing the signals to determine a position and an orientation of the medical instrument;

employing a coordinate transformation to represent pre-operative image data and the position and orientation of the medical instrument within a common reference frame; and

generating and displaying navigation images comprising:a virtual representation of the medical instrument;anatomical and/or functional features associated with the pre-operative image data; anda plurality of spatial annotations positioned at prescribed locations along the longitudinal axis relative to the position of the medical instrument,
wherein each spatial annotation identifies a respective image region having a known length measure associated therewith, and wherein each spatial annotation is configured such that the image region associated therewith is centered on the longitudinal axis and extends orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;

each spatial annotation thereby enabling a visual assessment of the size of anatomical and/or functional features proximal to the longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, there is provided a system for performing tracking and navigation during a medical procedure, the system comprising:

a tracking system for tracking the position and orientation of a medical instrument, the medical instrument comprising an elongate portion characterized by a longitudinal axis; and

computer hardware operatively connected to said tracking system, wherein said computer hardware is configured to:employ a coordinate transformation to represent pre-operative image data and the position and orientation of the medical instrument within a common reference frame; andgenerate and display navigation images comprising:a virtual representation of the medical instrument;anatomical and/or functional features associated with the pre-operative image data; anda plurality of spatial annotations positioned at prescribed locations along the longitudinal axis relative to the position of the medical instrument, wherein each spatial annotation identifies a respective image region having a known length measure associated therewith, and wherein each spatial annotation is configured such that the image region associated therewith is centered on the longitudinal axis and extends orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;each spatial annotation thereby enabling a visual assessment of the size of anatomical and/or functional features proximal to the longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of performing tracking and navigation during a medical procedure, the method comprising:

detecting, with a tracking system, signals from one or more fiducial markers associated with a medical instrument, the medical instrument comprising an elongate portion characterized by a longitudinal axis;

processing the signals to determine a position and an orientation of the medical instrument;

employing a coordinate transformation to represent pre-operative image data and the position and orientation of the medical instrument within a common reference frame; and

generating and displaying navigation images comprising:anatomical and/or functional features associated with the pre-operative image data; anda spatial annotation positioned at a discrete location along the longitudinal axis relative to the position of the medical instrument, wherein the spatial annotation identifies a respective image region having a known length measure associated therewith, and wherein the spatial annotation is configured such that the image region associated therewith is centered on the longitudinal axis and extends orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;

the spatial annotation thereby enabling a visual assessment of the size of anatomical and/or functional features proximal to the longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of performing tracking and navigation during a medical procedure, the method comprising:

detecting, with a tracking system, signals from one or more fiducial markers associated with a medical instrument, the medical instrument comprising an elongate portion characterized by a longitudinal axis;

processing the signals to determine a position and an orientation of the medical instrument;

employing a coordinate transformation to represent pre-operative image data and the position and orientation of the medical instrument within a common reference frame; and

generating and displaying navigation images comprising:anatomical and/or functional features associated with the pre-operative image data; anda plurality of spatial annotations positioned at prescribed locations along the longitudinal axis relative to the position of the medical instrument, wherein each spatial annotation identifies a respective image region having a known length measure associated therewith, and wherein each spatial annotation is configured such that the image region associated therewith is centered on the longitudinal axis and extends orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;

each spatial annotation thereby enabling a visual assessment of the size of anatomical and/or functional features proximal to the longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of performing spatial annotations during a guided medical procedure, the method comprising:

generating and displaying navigation images comprising:a virtual representation of a medical instrument tracked during the medical procedure, the medical instrument comprising an elongate portion characterized by a longitudinal axis;anatomical and/or functional features associated with pre-operative image data, wherein the pre-operative image data and the position and orientation of the medical instrument are known in a common reference frame; anda plurality of spatial annotations positioned at prescribed locations along the longitudinal axis relative to the position of the medical instrument, wherein each spatial annotation identifies a respective image region having a known length measure associated therewith, and wherein each spatial annotation is configured such that the image region associated therewith is centered on the longitudinal axis and extends orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;

each spatial annotation thereby enabling a visual assessment of the size of anatomical and/or functional features proximal to the longitudinal axis.

A further understanding of the functional and advantageous aspects of the disclosure can be realized by reference to the following detailed description and drawings.

