Screen-mounted trajectory and aiming guide for use with fluoroscopy

Abstract

A template that includes a support structure pivotably mounted to a guide, wherein the guide includes a compass with angle markings, a first guide member extending from the vertex of the compass, a second guide member extending from the vertex of the compass. In another embodiment, a medical imaging system can include a medical imaging machine with a display screen, a support structure affixed to the medical imaging machine, and a guide pivotably mounted to the support structure. A method of aligning medical implants with anatomical structures includes positioning a template over the display screen, and comparing an angle of a medical tool or implant relative to the anatomical structure of the patient to a reference angle on the guide and installing the implant in the patient at the angle indicated by the guide.

Claims

1. A method of aligning medical implants with anatomical structures within a body comprising: positioning a template over an image of at least a portion of an anatomical structure of a patient appearing on a display screen of a medical imaging machine, the template comprising a guide and a support structure, the guide including angle markings, the guide further comprising a plurality of guide members extending from a vertex; comparing an angle of a medical tool or implant relative to the anatomical structure of the patient to a reference angle by observing the medical tool or implant and the anatomical structure of the patient on the display screen and comparing the angle of the medical tool or implant relative to the anatomical structure of the patient to the reference angle of the template positioned over the image of the anatomical structure of the patient; and installing the implant in the patient at the angle indicated by the template.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising angularly rotating at least one of the guide members to set the guide at a desired angle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising angularly rotating at least one of the guide members to measure the angle of the medical tool or implant relative to the anatomical structure of the patient.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the guide defines a compass with the angle markings.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising engaging the display screen with an anchoring base of the guide using at least one of a suction cup, a clamp, an adhesive, and a sticky elastomer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:

(2) FIG. 1, already described, is a perspective view of a fluoroscopy machine in accordance with the conventional art;

(3) FIG. 2, already described, is a partial perspective view of a human anatomical structure with implants, as seen through a medical imaging display such as fluoroscopy;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a screen-overlaid trajectory and aiming guide template for use with medical imaging; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a trajectory and aiming guide template overlaid on a medical image display screen displaying a human anatomical structure receiving an implant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary trajectory and aiming guide template 300 for use with medical imaging, such as fluoroscopy, installed over a display screen 108. The template can have a guide 310 and a support structure 330. The guide 310 can be pivotably mounted to the support structure 330 at a guide pivot 340. The guide 310 can have two guide members 312 and 314, and a compass 316. The compass 316 can have a vertex 318 and angle markings 320. The two guide members, 312 and 314, can extend from the vertex 318 of the compass 316. One or both of the guide members may be pivotably mounted on the vertex 318 at a vertex pivot 342 One or both of the guide members can pivot at the vertex 318 so that the angle formed by the two guide members can be measured using the angle markings 320 on the compass 316 as a protractor. In an embodiment, the guide members 312 and 314 can be sufficiently transparent to allow an anatomical structure to be seen through the guide members 312 and 314 on the display screen 108. The guide members 312 and 314 can have one or more guide marks 322 such as lines, dashes, or hash marks that can be used to align the guide members over an image of the anatomical structures and the trajectory of a compression screw 202. The guide marks 322 can also be used to measure the trajectory angle using the angle markings 320. Alternately, the guide members can be opaque, with one edge of the guide member defined by a vector projecting from the vertex. In another embodiment, the guide members can be defined by rigid outer perimeters with inwardly projecting rigid markers, or other possible embodiments allowing the user to view items on the display screen and use the template to measure the angles between them. The first guide member 312 can be pivotably mounted to the support structure 330 at the guide pivot 340. In alternate embodiments, the second guide member 314 or the compass 316 can be pivotably mounted to the support structure 330 at the guide pivot 340.

(7) In an embodiment, the support structure 330 can have an anchoring base 332, and two support arms 334 and 336. The first support arm 334 can be pivotably mounted on the anchoring base 332 at an anchor pivot 344, and the second support arm 336 may be pivotably mounted on the first support arm 334 at a support pivoting 346. Other embodiments of support structures are considered, including a single, telescoping and pivoting support arm or more than two pivoting support arms. The anchoring base 332 may have one or more suction cups, clamps, sticky elastomers, adhesives, or other means of fixing the template over the display screen, and may include at least one support arm.

(8) As shown in FIG. 4, the template 300 can be positioned over a display screen such as a fluoroscopy screen 108 displaying an anatomical structure such as a femur 202 that will receive an implant 204. The guide 310 can be positioned over an image of the anatomical structure such as the femur 202. One guide member 312 may be positioned over the image of the anatomical structure such as a femur 202, and the other guide member 314 may be rotated on the vertex pivot 342 to the optimal trajectory angle for aiming a compression screw 210 for implanting. The trajectory angle of the compression screw 202 can be measured by using angle markings 320 to determine the angle between the two guide members 312 and 314. The guide marks 322 on the guide members 312 and 314 can be used to increase the accuracy of the placement of the guide members 312 and 314, and can be used to increase the accuracy of the angle measurement using the angle markings 320 on the compass 316. This allows the surgeon to see the anatomical structure, such as a femur 202, and a compression screw 210, and measure the angle between the femur 202 and the compression screw 210 using the compass 316 as a protractor, to ensure that the compression screw 210 is implanted at the optimal angle. The surgeon may set the optimal angle on the guide 310, and then install the compression screw 210 at the angle shown by the template, or the surgeon may prepare to install a compression screw 210 based on other factors such as the curvature of a bone or the location of fractures, and then use the guide 310 to measure the intended angle.

(9) The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Features of each of the various embodiments described above may be combined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments of the apparatus and method of the present invention, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. For example, embodiments herein can be practiced with guide members and the compass affixed to the display screen at the pivot point, without support arms. Alternatively, the embodiments herein can be practiced with more than two guide members for aligning multiple implants or screws. Or the embodiments herein can be practiced with a support arm affixed to the compass instead of to a guide member. Alternatively, the embodiments herein can be practiced with multiple compasses. Additionally, as used herein various directional and dispositional terms such as “vertical”, “horizontal”, “up”, “down”, “bottom”, “top”, “side”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, and the like, are used only as relative conventions and not as absolute directions/dispositions with respect to a fixed coordinate space, such as the acting direction of gravity. Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not to otherwise limit the scope of this invention.