Surgical Component Navigation Systems And Methods

Abstract

A navigation and monitoring system to track positions of surgical components during surgery of a patient. The navigation system includes a power source to emit a tracking signal during surgery of the patient, a first sensor mounted to a region of the patient to respond to the emitted tracking signal, and a control unit to track a position of the region relative to a fixed region of the patient as the region moves with respect to the fixed region, based on the response of the first sensor. The system can calibrate and register a movable reference point of the patient relative to a fixed reference point, and can maintain that reference point when the movable reference point moves in space during a surgical process.

1 . A navigation system to track positions of surgical components, comprising:
 a power source to emit a tracking signal during an operation of a patient;   a first sensor mounted to a movable region of the patient to respond to the emitted tracking signal; and   a control unit to track a position of the movable region relative to a fixed region of the patient as the movable region moves with respect to the fixed region, based on the response of the first sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a second sensor mounted to a surgical component to respond to the emitted tracking signal such that the control unit tracks a position of the surgical component relative to the movable region as the surgical component and movable region move with respect to the fixed region, based on the responses of the first and second sensors.   
     
     
         3 . The navigation system of  claim 2 , wherein the first and second sensors each comprise at least three receptors to interact with the emitted tracking signal, and the control unit tracks the position of the surgical component relative to the movable region using a triangulation calculation based on the interaction of the at least three receptors. 
     
     
         4 . The navigation system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a detection unit to detect the responses of the first and second sensors such that the control unit tracks the movement of the movable region and the surgical component based on the detected responses.   
     
     
         5 . The navigation system of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second sensors each comprise at least three reflectors to reflect the emitted tracking signal, and the control unit tracks the position of the surgical component relative to the movable region using a triangulation calculation based on the reflected signals of the at least three reflectors. 
     
     
         6 . The navigation system of  claim 2 , wherein the first sensor comprises an emitting unit to emit a second tracking signal to the second sensor, and the second sensor comprises a receptor unit to respond to the second tracking signal such that the control unit tracks the movement of the surgical component relative to the movable region based on the response of the receptor unit to the second tracking signal. 
     
     
         7 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , wherein the first sensor comprises at least three RFID, Bluetooth, LED, or WiFi receptors to interact with the emitted tracking signal, and the control unit tracks the position of the movable region using a triangulation calculation based on the interaction of the at least three receptors. 
     
     
         8 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a surgical aid component fixedly mounted to the movable region, wherein the first sensor is coupled to an outer surface of the surgical component and is oriented to maintain a visible line of sight with the emitted tracking signal.   
     
     
         9 . A navigation system to track positions of surgical components during surgery of a patient, comprising:
 a detection unit to detect an optical signal;   a first sensor mounted to a movable region of the patient to emit a first optical signal to be detected by the detection unit; and   a control unit to track a position of the movable region relative to a fixed region of the patient as the movable region moves with respect to the fixed region, based on the detected first optical signal.   
     
     
         10 . The navigation system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a second sensor mounted to a surgical component to emit a second optical signal to be detected by the detection unit such that the control unit tracks a position of the surgical component relative to the movable region as the surgical component and movable region move with respect to the fixed region, based on the detected first and second optical signals.   
     
     
         11 . The navigation system of  claim 10 , wherein the first and second sensors each comprise at least three optical emitters to respectively emit first, second, and third light signals to be detected by the detection unit, such that the control unit tracks the position of the surgical component relative to the movable region using a triangulation calculation based on the detected first, second, and third light signals. 
     
     
         12 . The navigation system of  claim 10 , wherein the first sensor comprises an emitting unit to emit a tracking signal to the second sensor, and the second sensor comprises a receptor unit to respond to the tracking signal such that the control unit tracks the movement of the surgical component relative to the movable region based on the response of the receptor unit to the tracking signal. 
     
     
         13 . The navigation system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a surgical component fixedly mounted to the movable region, wherein the first sensor is coupled to an outer surface of the surgical component to maintain a visible line of sight with the light detector as the movable region is moved during the surgery.   
     
     
         14 . A method of tracking positions of surgical components during a surgical process of a patient, comprising:
 emitting tracking signals to a targeted region of the surgical process;   coupling a first sensor to a movable region of the patient such that the first sensor responds to the emitted tracking signals; and   tracking a position of the movable region relative to a fixed region of the patient as the movable region moves with respect to the fixed region, based on the response of the first sensor.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a location of the fixed region is based on a scanned image of the patient. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 coupling a second sensor to a surgical component to be used in the surgery such that the second sensor responds to the emitted signal;   tracking a position of the surgical component relative to the movable region as the surgical component and movable region move with respect to the fixed region, based on the responses of the first and second sensors; and   displaying an image of the relative positions of the surgical component and movable region.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the displaying an image is performed by a set of navigation goggles to be worn by a surgeon. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first sensor comprises an emitting unit to emit a second tracking signal to the second sensor, and the second sensor comprises a receptor unit to respond to the second tracking signal such that the control unit tracks the movement of the surgical component relative to the movable region based on the response of the receptor unit to the second tracking signal. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the coupling of the first sensor to the movable region of the patient comprises:
 fixedly mounting a surgical aid component to the movable region; and   coupling the first sensor to the surgical aid component.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first sensor is coupled to an outer surface of the surgical aid component and is oriented to maintain a visible line of sight with the emitted signals as the movable region moves with respect to the fixed region during the surgical process. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first sensor comprises at least three RFID, Bluetooth, LED, or WiFi receptors to interact with the emitted tracking signals, and the control unit tracks the position of the movable region using a triangulation calculation based on the interaction of the at least three receptors. 
     
     
         22 . A navigation system to track positions of surgical components during surgery of a patient, comprising:
 a power source to emit a tracking signal during surgery of a patient;   a first sensor mounted to a region of the patient to generate a first response signal to the emitted tracking signal;   a second sensor mounted to a surgical component to generate a second response signal to the emitted tracking signal; and   a control unit to track a position of the surgical component relative to the region as the surgical instrument and region move with respect to a fixed region of the patient,   wherein the tracked position is based on a triangulation calculation relative to the first and second response signals independent of a shape dimension of the first and second sensors.   
     
     
         23 . The navigation system of  claim 22 , wherein the first sensor comprises a digital scanner to read data pertaining to a region of interest of the patient to adjust existing CT scan data of the patient. 
     
     
         24 . The navigation system of  claim 22 , further comprising a set of navigation goggles worn by a surgeon to display in real-time the position of the surgical component and/or region during surgery. 
     
     
         25 . A navigation system to track positions of surgical components, comprising:
 a power source to emit a tracking signal during an operation of a patient;   a first component mounted to a region of interest of the patient, the first component including a first sensor to respond to the emitted tracking signal to provide location information of the first component;   a second component including a second sensor to respond to the emitted tracking signal to provide location information of the second component; and   a control unit to track the locations of the first and second components relative to a fixed region of the patient as the first or second components move with respect to the fixed region based on the responses of the first and second sensors, independent of a shape dimension of the first or second sensors.   
     
     
         26 . A wound care device to monitor and treat wounds of a patient, comprising:
 a dressing to cover a wound of a patient;   at least one detector to measure a characteristic parameter of the wound, and to transmit a signal representative of the measured characteristic parameter; and   a control unit to receive the transmitted signal and to output a response indicative of the measured characteristic parameter to treat the wound.   
     
     
         27 . The wound care device of  claim 26 , wherein the dressing includes at least one delivery device to deliver a treatment element to a selected region of the wound based on a location of the measured characteristic parameter. 
     
     
         28 . The wound care device of  claim 27 , further comprising an energy harvesting device to power the at least one detector and the at least one delivery device.