US Patent 8057407 Surgical sensor

An integrated surgical anchor/localization sensor is disclosed. The anchor is adapted to be secured to an anatomical structure and contains a sensor housing. A receiver is located within the sensor housing and is adapted to sense reference signals generated by a surgical guidance system. A transmitter, connected to the receiver, conveys to a processor signals received by the receiver, so that the signals transmitted by the receiver are indicative of a current position of the anchor. Various other structures and methods are also disclosed.