Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
198 words
A stereotactic localizer system for localizing positions in a patient's anatomy based on an image scan of said patient's anatomy comprising: a. a skin band adapted to be fixed to the patient's skin of said patient's anatomy; b. reference markers connected to said skin band and detectable in image scan data produced by said image scan and having image positions in an image scan coordinate system and/or said image scan data, and having physical positions with respect to stereotactic coordinate system associated with an external apparatus near said patient's anatomy, such that said image scan coordinate system can be mapped into said stereotactic coordinate system by a transformation from said image positions to said physical positions; and, c. further including dynamic reference structures attached to said skin band, said dynamic reference structures having a pattern which can be detected by a detection apparatus that is in a position with respect to said stereotactic coordinate system, such that changes in position of said patient's anatomy with respect to said stereotactic coordinate system can be detected by said detection apparatus and accordingly corrections in said mapping between said image scan coordinate system and said stereotactic coordinate system can be made.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
198 words
A stereotactic localizer system for localizing positions in a patient's anatomy based on an image scan of said patient's anatomy comprising: a. a skin band adapted to be fixed to the patient's skin of said patient's anatomy; b. reference markers connected to said skin band and detectable in image scan data produced by said image scan and having image positions in an image scan coordinate system and/or said image scan data, and having physical positions with respect to stereotactic coordinate system associated with an external apparatus near said patient's anatomy, such that said image scan coordinate system can be mapped into said stereotactic coordinate system by a transformation from said image positions to said physical positions; and, c. further including dynamic reference structures attached to said skin band, said dynamic reference structures having a pattern which can be detected by a detection apparatus that is in a position with respect to said stereotactic coordinate system, such that changes in position of said patient's anatomy with respect to said stereotactic coordinate system can be detected by said detection apparatus and accordingly corrections in said mapping between said image scan coordinate system and said stereotactic coordinate system can be made.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said skin band comprises a head band that can be attached to the head of the patient.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said reference markers comprise radiopaque markers which can be detected in a CT scan image through said patient's anatomy.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said radiopaque markers comprise radiopaque rings having through holes such that ink dot markings can be made on said patient's skin through said through holes.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
76 words
The apparatus of claim 1 and further comprising a graphic reference structure which can be detected as varying data in said image scan data such that individual slice images from said image scan data can be indexed with respect to said patient's anatomy such that corrections in said image scan data resulting from changes in the position of said patient's anatomy with respect to said image scan and/or said image scan coordinate system can be made.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said graphic reference structure includes diagonal elements which produce varying index data in said image scan data whereby a mapping can be made from the coordinate system of said graphic reference structure to said image scan coordinate system.