Importance

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Abstract

A skin-based band is fixed to a patient's skin in a repeatable position and includes reference markers which, attached to the skin band, can be visualized in tomographic image scanning. The reference markers appear as reference marker images in the image scan data from the image scan and correspond to coordinate positions in the image scan coordinate system. The reference markers also provide corresponding reference marker positions in the physical space of the patient's anatomy, which may correspond to a stereotactic coordinate system associated with a digitized navigator or frameless stereotactic reference system near the patient. The band can also be placed on the patient again at the time of surgical intervention, and the reference markers can be touched or referenced by the surgical navigator in the stereotactic coordinate system. A computer system assimilates the image scan data and calibration data and enables a mapping from the image scan coordinate system to the stereotactic coordinate system so that surgical instruments can be tracked by a surgical navigator so that their position can be referenced to the image scan data.

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First Claim