Generation of three-dimensional scans for intraoperative imaging

Inventors

Liu, Yang • Askari Karchegani, Maziyar

Assignees

Unify Medical Inc

Abstract

A system for executing a three-dimensional (3D) intraoperative scan of a patient is disclosed. A 3D scanner controller projects the object points included onto a first image plane and the object points onto a second image plane. The 3D scanner controller determines first epipolar lines associated with the first image plane and second epipolar lines associated with the second image plane based on an epipolar plane that triangulates the object points included in the first 2D intraoperative image to the object points included in the second 2D intraoperative image. Each epipolar lines provides a depth of each object as projected onto the first image plane and the second image plane. The 3D scanner controller converts the first 2D intraoperative image and the second 2D intraoperative image to the 3D intraoperative scan of the patient based on the depth of each object point provided by each corresponding epipolar line.

Core Innovation

A system executes a three-dimensional (3D) intraoperative scan of a patient to generate a plurality of intraoperative images that enables a surgeon to navigate during a surgical operation. The system includes a 3D scanner with a first image sensor and a second image sensor, configured to capture a first 2D intraoperative image and a second 2D intraoperative image of a plurality of object points associated with the patient. A 3D scanning controller projects the plurality of object points from each 2D intraoperative image onto an associated first and second image plane.

Using an epipolar plane that triangulates the plurality of object points from the first 2D intraoperative image to the plurality of object points in the second 2D intraoperative image, the 3D scanning controller determines a plurality of first epipolar lines associated with the first image plane and a plurality of second epipolar lines associated with the second image plane. Each epipolar line provides a depth of each object point as projected onto the first and second image planes, and the controller converts the first 2D intraoperative image and the second 2D intraoperative image to a 3D intraoperative scan based on the depth provided by each corresponding epipolar line.

The system further includes a controller configured to co-register pre-operative image data captured from at least one pre-operative image with intraoperative image data provided by the 3D intraoperative scan. A display is instructed to display the co-registered pre-operative image data together with the intraoperative image data as the surgeon navigates during the surgical operation, linking the pre-operative image data with the 3D intraoperative scan produced from the epipolar-line depth conversion.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes two independent claims: clm-00001 (system) and clm-00008 (method). Across these independent claims, the main inventive coverage centers on projecting object points onto first and second image planes, determining epipolar lines from an epipolar plane for depth, converting two 2D intraoperative images into a 3D intraoperative scan, and co-registering and displaying pre-operative image data during surgeon navigation.

The independent claims define a 3D intraoperative scanning approach based on epipolar geometry: projecting object points onto two image planes, deriving epipolar lines from an epipolar plane triangulation to obtain depth, converting the two 2D intraoperative images into a 3D intraoperative scan, and co-registering and displaying pre-operative image data together with the intraoperative scan for surgeon navigation.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications