Bendable Medical Device Control Through Fluoroscopic Reference Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
The control mappings between fluoroscopic and endoscopic viewpoints for bendable medical devices are counterintuitive, leading to prolonged procedures and suboptimal alignment, imposing a mental burden on physicians due to the non-intuitive direction mappings between different imaging modalities.
Innovation Solution
A medical system that automatically maps control directions from the fluoroscopic viewpoint to the endoscopic viewpoint, allowing physicians to input instructed directions intuitively and facilitating precise movement of the distal end of the bendable medical device by generating reference-frame mappings between different reference frames.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If physicians manually control the distal end of a bendable medical device using fluoroscopic images, then they can track the device location, but the control mappings are counterintuitive and increase procedural time
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an automated reference-frame mapping mechanism as an intermediary between the fluoroscopic image and the device control system. This intermediary automatically translates control directions from the fluoroscopic viewpoint to the endoscopic viewpoint, eliminating the need for physicians to manually interpret counterintuitive mappings and reducing procedural time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical control with an automated computational mapping system. Instead of physicians manually adjusting controls based on visual interpretation of fluoroscopic images, the system automatically computes and applies reference-frame transformations to translate control inputs, substituting human cognitive processing with automated computational mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If physicians manually interpret control directions from fluoroscopic images, then they can control device movement, but mental burden increases due to non-intuitive direction mappings
Solution Approach 1:
The reference-frame mapping system serves as an intermediary layer that automatically handles the complexity of direction mappings. It translates control inputs from the intuitive fluoroscopic coordinate system to the device's internal coordinate system, shielding physicians from the underlying computational complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically computing and applying the necessary reference-frame transformations without requiring physician intervention. The automated mapping system independently handles the complex coordinate transformations, freeing physicians from the mental burden of manual interpretation.
3Ease of operation
If automated reference-frame mapping is implemented, then control intuitiveness improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reference-frame mapping module functions as an intermediary component that encapsulates the complexity of coordinate transformations. By isolating this complexity in a dedicated automated module, the system maintains operational simplicity for users while managing the underlying computational complexity in a structured manner.
Data Source
AI summary
Some devices, systems, and methods obtain a fluoroscopic image and corresponding C-arm positional information of the fluoroscopic image, wherein the fluoroscopic image depicts a distal end of a bendable medical device, and wherein the C-arm positional information indicates a rotation angle of a C-arm of a C-arm scanner; obtain an orientation of the distal end in an image plane of the fluoroscopic image, wherein the image plane is defined in a detector reference frame; obtain an instructed direction; determine, in the image plane, a movement direction of the distal end that corresponds to the instructed direction; map the movement direction from the image plane to a distal-end reference frame of the distal end, wherein the mapping is based on an orientation of the distal end in an intermediate reference frame and on the C-arm positional information; and control the distal end to move according to the mapped movement direction.