System and method for controlling movement of a surgical tool

Abstract

A system whereby a magnetic tip attached to a surgical tool is detected, displayed and influenced positionally so as to allow diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to be performed rapidly, accurately, simply, and intuitively is described. The tools that can be so equipped include catheters, guidewires, and secondary tools such as lasers and balloons, in addition biopsy needles, endoscopy probes, and similar devices. The magnetic tip allows the position and orientation of the tip to be determined without the use of x-rays by analyzing a magnetic field. The magnetic tip further allows the tool tip to be pulled, pushed, turned, and forcefully held in the desired position by applying an appropriate magnetic field external to the patient's body. A Virtual Tip serves as an operator control. Movement of the operator control produces corresponding movement of the magnetic tip inside the patient's body. Additionally, the control provides tactile feedback to the operator's hand in the appropriate axis or axes if the magnetic tip encounters an obstacle. The output of the control combined with the magnetic tip position and orientation feedback allows a servo system to control the external magnetic field by pulse width modulating the positioning electromagnet. Data concerning the dynamic position of a moving body part such as a beating heart offsets the servo systems response in such a way that the magnetic tip, and hence the secondary tool is caused to move in unison with the moving body part. The tip position and orientation information and the dynamic body part position information are also utilized to provide a display that allows three dimensional viewing of the magnetic tip position and orientation relative to the body part.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 621,196 titled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR A CATHETER GUIDANCE CONTROL AND IMAGING, which was filed Jul. 15, 2003 which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 396,302, filed Jul. 16, 2002, titled “CATHETER GUIDANCE CONTROL AND IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD,” the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to systems and techniques for guiding, steering, and advancing invasive medical devices such as catheters and catheter-type devices. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] In general, catheterization is performed by inserting an invasive device into an incision or a body orifice. Secondary tools such as guidewires and balloons are often advanced along the primary catheter to the area where the medical procedure is to be performed. These procedur...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a magnetic catheter guidance and control apparatus that requires less training and less skill that prior art systems. The magnetic catheter guidance system can rapidly advance and pos

Problems solved by technology

This technique requires great skills on the part of the operator that can only be achieved after a protracted training period and extended practice.

If the artery to be treated is torturous with sharp bends, it may be difficult to advance the guidewire to the stenosis.

If the stenosis is severe or the artery is totally blocked, it may be difficult or even impossible to properly position the guidewire.

These technical difficulties can render the procedure unfeasible.

Crossing the narrowed valve orifice is a challenge to the operator.

In these situations the placement of a guidewire beyond the narrowed site is very difficult and many times unsuccessful.

Many times, the manipulation to place the electrodes in a proper position is difficult and the results are sub-optimal due to anatomical variations.

This can be a cumbersome and time-consuming procedure because multiple measurements are often required to perform a complete study.

In addition, accurately positioning the electrode using manual manipulation is a difficult process.

Given these exacting requirements, the imprecise nature of manual manipulation can cause this procedure to be especially difficult and time consuming.

Notwithstanding a high success rate and a low risk of recurrent restenosis associated with this procedure, a known complication is an atrial septal defect induced by the puncture of the intra-atrial septum.

Although much less aggressive than surgery, this procedure is lengthy, difficult, and requires special skills in addition to those normally requisite for catheterization.

Because a relatively rigid balloon is required t

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