Mako Surgical Corporation

Hans-Ulrich Becker

Patrick Roessler

José Luis Moctezuma De La Barrera

Mark Ellsworth Nadzadi

Michael C Ferko

Michael Dale Dozeman

Gregory Garcia

Vladimir Gershuni

Surgical systems, computer-implemented methods, and software programs for generating a milling path for a bone. The implementations involve obtaining a virtual model of the bone, a resection volume defined relative to the virtual model of the bone, and a reference guide defined with respect to the resection volume. Section planes are successively arranged along the reference guide, and each section plane intersects the reference guide and intersects the resection volume. A section path is generated within each section plane and is defined relative to the resection volume. Transition segments are generated to connect section paths of section planes. The milling path is then generated by combining the section paths and the transition segments.

Techniques for patient-specific milling path generation

Surgical systems, computer-implemented methods, and software programs for producing a patient-specific virtual boundary configured to constrain movement and/or operation of a surgical tool in response to the surgical tool interacting with the patient-specific virtual boundary. The implementations include obtaining a generic virtual boundary including a generic surface with a generic edge, and positioning the generic virtual boundary relative to a virtual anatomical model such that the generic surface intersects the virtual anatomical model. The implementations include computing an intersection of the generic surface and the virtual anatomical model to define a cross-sectional contour of the virtual anatomical model, and morphing the generic edge to the cross-sectional contour to produce a customized surface with a patient-specific edge. The implementations include generating a customized face extending from, and along, the patient-specific edge, and producing the patient-specific virtual boundary by merging the customized surface and the customized face.

Techniques for patient-specific morphing of virtual boundaries

Systems, methods, software and techniques for generating a milling path for a tool of a surgical system are provided. The milling path is designed to remove a resection volume associated with an anatomical volume. A reference guide is defined with respect to the resection volume. Sections are defined along the reference guide in succession. Each section intersects the reference guide at a different intersection point and is at a specified orientation relative to the reference guide at the intersection point. Each section further intersects the resection volume. A section path is generated to be bounded within each section and defined relative to the resection volume. A plurality of transition segments are generated and each transition segment connects section paths of successive sections along the reference guide.

Systems, methods, software and techniques are disclosed for morphing a generic virtual boundary into a patient-specific virtual boundary for an anatomical model. The generic virtual boundary comprises one or more morphable faces. An intersection of the generic virtual boundary and the anatomical model is computed to define a cross-sectional contour of the anatomical model. One or more faces of the generic virtual boundary are morphed to conform to the cross-sectional contour of the anatomical model to produce the patient-specific virtual boundary. In some cases, the morphed faces are spaced apart from the cross-sectional contour by an offset distance that accounts for a geometric feature of a surgical tool.

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Muellheim, Germany

Hans-Ulrich Becker