US 11,857,204 B2
Surgical instrument
Markus Windolf, Davos (CH); Viktor Varjas, Davos (CH); and Peter Varga, Davos (CH)
Assigned to Synthes GmbH
Appl. No. 17/264,092
Filed by SYNTHES GMBH, Oberdorf (CH)
PCT Filed Jul. 22, 2019, PCT No. PCT/CH2019/000022
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 28, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/024068, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 6, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 00945/18 (CH), filed on Jul. 31, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0307764 A1, Oct. 7, 2021
Int. Cl. A61B 17/16 (2006.01); A61B 90/00 (2016.01); A61B 17/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/1626 (2013.01) [A61B 17/1628 (2013.01); A61B 17/1633 (2013.01); A61B 90/06 (2016.02); A61B 2017/00075 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00115 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00221 (2013.01); A61B 2090/062 (2016.02); A61B 2560/0223 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0219 (2013.01)] 60 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A surgical instrument, comprising:
a drive unit;
a cutting tool or drill bit engageable with the drive unit;
a measuring device attached to or integral with the surgical instrument, wherein the measuring device (1) is configured to measure a distance covered by the cutting tool or drill bit along a cutting or drilling path with respect to time and relative to a reference position;
a processing unit electronically directly or wirelessly connected to the measuring device and suitably programmed to record a graph of the distance covered by the cutting tool or drill bit relative to the reference position and with respect to time during a cutting or drilling process; and
a digital data storage,
characterized in that
in the digital data storage, reference data are stored which include at least one data set specifying at least one reference graph of the distance covered by the cutting tool or drill bit with respect to time and within a time window in a range of a transition of the cutting tool or drill bit from a first medium having a first density to a second medium having a different second density during a cutting or drilling process, wherein
the at least one reference graph defines a reference point of the transition of the cutting tool or drill bit from a first medium to a second medium; and wherein
the time window includes a first time period before the reference point of the transition and a second time period after the reference point of the transition; and
the processing unit is suitably programmed to compare the recorded graph with the at least one reference graph by means of a similarity measure to quantify an agreement between the recorded graph or at least one portion of the recorded graph and the at least one reference graph to find a position of a transition in the recorded graph.