Abstract: A surgical device adapted for use with an image guided surgical system to facilitate monitoring inter-dependently mobile bone elements. A rigidly connected multiple-point anchor assembly is releasably engageable to at least two inter-dependently mobile bone elements and immobilizes the bone elements such that no relative movement therebetween is possible, and a complex rigid body comprising the immobilized bone elements and the multiple-point anchor assembly is formed. A trackable member is fastened to the multiple-point anchor assembly and comprises a detectable element adapted to be located and tracked in three dimensional space by the image guided surgical system, thereby defining position and movement of the complex rigid body.

Abstract: A computer-assisted surgical system and method are described herein. The computer-assisted surgical system comprises a computer including three-dimensional models of anatomical structures and a user interface including a position sensing system to register in real-time the relative positions of the anatomical structures of interest and of a surgical tool. Interactions between the tool and the anatomical structure are displayed on a monitor using the three-dimensional models. Multi-view display, transparency display and use of cutting planes allow the surgeon to visualize the interaction between the tool and the anatomical structures any time during the surgical procedure. The system can also predict the constraint on anatomical structures before surgery.

Abstract: A computer-assisted surgical system and method are described herein. The computer-assisted surgical system comprises a computer including three-dimensional models of anatomical structures and a user interface including a position sensing system to register in real-time the relative positions of the anatomical structures of interest and of a surgical tool. Interactions between the tool and the anatomical structure are displayed on a monitor using the three-dimensional models. Multi-view display, transparency display and use of cutting planes allow the surgeon to visualize the interaction between the tool and the anatomical structures any time during the surgical procedure. The system can also predict the constraint on anatomical structures before surgery.

Abstract: A segmentation method and system for medical images of a structure, including at least one substructure are described herein. Examples of such structure and substructures are a vertebra and its spinal canal or a sacrum with its two foramens. The method consists of first providing a plurality of digital images representing consecutive slices of the structure. The set of images is then divided into groups for which initial substructures center position are estimated. Using this information, the pixels corresponding to each substructure and common to all the images in the group are determined. Iterations are performed between these two last steps until the best candidates are obtained. The method consists then in estimating the substructures center position in each image of the group. After the substructures have been identified in each image, the images are then processed to remove noise in the substructures, in the rest of the structure and outside the structure.