The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 16, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 30, 1996
Robert Maciunas, Nashville, TN (US);
J Michael Fitzpatrick, Nashville, TN (US);
Calvin R Maurer, Jr, Nashville, TN (US);
Jennifer J McCrory, Lincoln, RI (US);
Rory Randall, San Diego, CA (US);
George S. Allen, Nashville, TN (US);
Abstract
A surgeon can select an entry point and a target point in a preoperative image volume of the patient. The target point and entry point form a trajectory line along which the surgeon wishes to perform a surgical procedure such as a biopsy and line up a surgical instrument. Once a surgical platform is moved along a guide arm arc close to a point on the trajectory line, the surgical platform is locked to the guiding arm. A pivot point position at the center of a ball joint in the middle of a metal plate is then arranged to be exactly at a point on the trajectory line. The metal plate is locked down and the ball joint is rotated to ensure that the surgical sleeve extends exactly along the trajectory line. This allows a decoupling between the position and orientation movements required to line the surgical sleeve up with the trajectory line to perform a surgical procedure. An interoperative localization device (ILD) is used to track the position of the surgical guide relative to the image space.