Surgery – Diagnostic testing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-24
2001-02-06
Hindenburg, Max (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
C600S595000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183415
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical therapy and/or diagnosis equipment, and more particularly, to a medical therapy and/or diagnosis equipment with a position sensing device that is arranged to cooperate with a further sensing device that is separated by a signal path from the position sensing device and fixed in position and orientation.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Such a medical therapy and/or diagnosis equipment is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,409. This document shows an LED arrangement as a position sensing device on therapy equipment constructed as a surgical cutting instrument, and spaced therefrom a camera arrangement that is fixed in position and orientation, as a further sensing device.
A medical therapy and/or diagnosis equipment of this kind, embodied as an operation microscope, is known from German Patent DE 196 40 993 A1. It is important in an operation microscope to precisely sense the position of the focus, which is at a distance of about 200 mm to 400 mm from the objective. This depends above all on the accuracy of sensing the position or orientation of the operation microscope because even a slight tilting of the operation microscope leads to a distinct displacement of the focus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to make possible more reliable and more precise sensing of the position and orientation of a medical therapy and/or diagnosis apparatus of the generic kind.
This object is achieved and particularly sensitive position sensing of the orientation of the medical therapy and/or diagnosis equipment is attained by the design of the position sensing device as a position sensing arm that extends away from the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment. A position sensing device that is arranged at a distinct distance from the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment proper undergoes an appreciable change of position, even when there is a relatively small pivoting of the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment, and this change of position can be reliably sensed in cooperation with the further sensing device.
In one embodiment, the position sensing arm includes a transmitting device with at least three spatially distributed transmitter elements, e.g., LEDs or ultrasonic transmitters. In this way, the position sensing device arranged on the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment itself can be relatively light and simple, and the generally more complex and more extensive receiving device can be associated with the stationary further sensing device.
When the transmitting elements are arranged mutually in pairs, such that a corresponding straight connecting line substantially intersects a longitudinal axis of the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment, the increase of the position sensing accuracy due to the position sensing arm acts directly on the especially relevant position region of the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment. This longitudinal axis can, for example, be the rotation axis of a drill or the optical axis of a microscope.
In a further embodiment, the transmitting device includes two groups of transmitting elements, arranged mutually spaced apart along the position sensing arm. In this manner, transmitting elements arranged at relatively small spacings within a group can achieve high position sensing accuracy by cooperation with transmitting elements of the other group of transmitting elements.
When the position sensing arm is constructed as a rod, with two disk-like radial projections arranged at a distance from each other, the position sensing arm is particularly simple in construction. The transmitting elements can then be arranged on peripheral edges of the radial projections, which is advantageous from the viewpoint of a direct signal connection of always at least three transmitting elements with the further sensing device.
In a further embodiment, the radii of the radial projections are such that a common tangent to the peripheral edges essentially intersects a longitudinal axis of the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment. The particularly relevant region can also be sensed with high accuracy by this arrangement.
When the therapy and/or diagnosis equipment is an operation microscope that provides focus parameter data to a position sensing evaluation unit, the position of the focus can be sensed relatively easily.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5203346 (1993-04-01), Fuhr et al.
patent: 5408409 (1995-04-01), Glassman et al.
patent: 5836954 (1998-11-01), Heilbrun et al.
patent: 5891020 (1999-04-01), Luber et al.
Carl=Zeis-Stiftung
Hindenburg Max
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