3D Bronchoscopy Guidance via Position Sensor Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current bronchoscopy methods for diagnosing lung cancer are invasive, often require expensive and radiation-intensive imaging systems, and struggle to navigate through small airways due to limited visualization and tracking capabilities, leading to inefficiencies and potential health risks for patients.
Innovation Solution
A system using an ultra-thin flexible endoscope with a position sensor that generates a 3-D graphical model of airways, allowing for visually-assisted guidance through linked passages within the body, enabling precise tracking and navigation by displaying the endoscope's position and orientation in real-time, and storing data for future reference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If conventional bronchoscopy methods are used to navigate through airways, then clinicians can obtain tissue samples, but the large diameter of commercially available bronchoscopes restricts their entrance into small airways where nodules are commonly found
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the navigation system into separate functional components: a small-diameter flexible endoscope for accessing small airways, an external position sensor for tracking, and a separate imaging system for visualization. This segmentation allows the endoscope itself to be thin enough for small airways while maintaining navigation capability through external systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary position sensor system that mediates between the small endoscope and the navigation/visualization system. The sensor tracks the endoscope's position and orientation externally, allowing clinicians to navigate small airways with real-time positional feedback without requiring a large-diameter scope with built-in navigation components.
2Illumination intensity
If fluoroscopic C-arms are used to assist clinicians in navigating the airways, then real-time imaging is provided, but the radiation load associated with continued fluoroscopy is detrimental to the health of both the patient and the physician
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the radiation-based fluoroscopic imaging system with a non-ionizing alternative. Instead of using X-rays to visualize airways in real-time, the system uses an optical endoscope with a position sensor that tracks location through electromagnetic or acoustic fields, eliminating radiation exposure while maintaining real-time visualization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a virtual copy or representation of the airway navigation path through digital tracking of the endoscope's position. Rather than directly imaging the airways with radiation, the system reconstructs the navigation path from position sensor data, providing real-time visualization without exposing patients or physicians to ionizing radiation.
3Loss of information
If fluoroscopic C-arms are used for navigation assistance, then orthogonal views of the thoracic cavity are projected in real-time, but position coordinates of the bronchoscope cannot be measured or calculated with a fluoroscope
Solution Approach 1:
The invention implements a feedback system where the position sensor continuously provides real-time position and orientation data of the endoscope back to the control system. This feedback loop enables automatic updating of the graphical interface with accurate position coordinates, allowing clinicians to see the endoscope's location and navigate more precisely without manual measurement or complex coordinate calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The position sensor acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between the physical endoscope and the digital graphic interface. It automatically measures and transmits position coordinates to the navigation system, eliminating the need for manual coordinate calculation or complex integration procedures required when using fluoroscopic systems.
4Reliability
If transthoracic needle aspiration is used to obtain tissue samples from peripheral lung nodules, then samples can be obtained from difficult-to-reach locations, but the procedure is very invasive and can compromise patient health and produce infections
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the invasive transthoracic needle aspiration procedure with a less invasive bronchoscopic approach. Instead of puncturing the lung tissue through the chest wall with a needle, the system uses a flexible endoscope to navigate through the natural airway passages to reach peripheral nodules, obtaining tissue samples through biopsy forceps or brush cytology while avoiding direct tissue puncture and reducing infection risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the sampling approach by transitioning from a trans-thoracic (through-chest-wall) route to a trans-bronchial (through-airway) route. This parameter change allows access to peripheral nodules through the natural breathing passages rather than penetrating solid tissue, significantly reducing invasiveness and complications while maintaining the ability to obtain diagnostic tissue samples.
Data Source
AI summary
Visual-assisted guidance of an ultra-thin flexible endoscope to a predetermined region of interest within a lung during a bronchoscopy procedure. The region may be an opacity-identified by non-invasive imaging methods, such as high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) or as a malignant lung mass that was diagnosed in a previous examination. An embedded position sensor on the flexible endoscope indicates the position of the distal tip of the probe in a Cartesian coordinate system during the procedure. A visual display is continually updated, showing the present position and orientation of the marker in a 3-D graphical airway model generated from image reconstruction. The visual display also includes windows depicting a virtual fly-through perspective and real-time video images acquired at the head of the endoscope, which can be stored as data, with an audio or textual account.