Appeal 2006-1914
Application 09/764,609
1 10. One particular advantage of such a system is that it may be
2 configured to track a wide variety of medical instruments simply by
3 reinitializing the imaging system each time a new instrument is
4 attached so that the system will be properly configured according to
5 the attached instrument. Such initialization information can include,
6 for example, the number of energy-emitting elements on the
7 instrument, the location of the energy-emitting elements relative to a
8 work portion of the medical instrument, and the like. Usually, such
9 information is manually entered into the computer, such as by use of a
10 keyboard or the like. However, manually initializing the imaging
11 system in such a manner suffers from a number of serious drawbacks.
12 (Chader, col. 1, l. 56 – col. 2, l. 1.)
13
14 11. [I]t would be desirable to provide improvements in the initialization
15 of the imaging system so that initialization information can correctly
16 and efficiently be input into the system. Such improvements should
17 also provide improved safety by ensuring that the imaging system is
18 properly initialized upon connection of each type of medical
19 instrument. (Chader, col. 2, ll. 14-20.)
20
21 12. The imaging system further includes a means for detecting the
22 energy and a processor for determining the location of the medical
23 instrument based on the detected energy. Such an imaging system is
24 improved by providing a means on or in the medical instrument for
25 storing initialization information, such as the location of the energy-
26 emitting means relative to the instrument body. (Chader, col. 2, ll. 49-
27 55.)
28
29 13. Optionally, the storing means may include information relating to the
30 particular configuration of the attachment so that different types of
31 attachments may be employed without having to manually enter
32 initialization information regarding the configuration of the
33 attachment. (Chader, col. 3, ll. 21-26.)
34
35 14. With such a configuration, the storing means will include
36 information relating to the location of the energy-emitting elements
37 relative to the selected type of instrument body so that the processor
9
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