Catheter Navigation via Optical Sensor Fusion and IMU
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current navigation systems for catheters in minimally invasive procedures, such as bronchoscopy, face challenges in accurately determining the orientation and position of the catheter within the body due to limited information about the patient's body orientation and camera orientation, especially in complex anatomical structures.
Innovation Solution
A navigation system incorporating a catheter with an optical sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a shape sensor like Fiber-Bragg grating, which captures images, detects movement, and updates the catheter's position on a 3D or 2D model, allowing for precise navigation without the need for electromagnetic sensors or fields.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If electromagnetic navigation systems are used to track catheter position, then navigation capability is provided, but the system complexity and requirement for electromagnetic fields increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the navigation functionality from the complex electromagnetic field system by using a simple optical sensor (camera) at the catheter tip. The camera captures images that are compared with pre-operative images to determine position, eliminating the need for electromagnetic sensors and fields while maintaining navigation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy of the patient's anatomy from pre-operative CT or MRI scans and compares it with real-time optical images from the catheter camera. This copying approach allows position determination through image matching rather than electromagnetic tracking, simplifying the physical system while preserving measurement precision.
2Ease of operation
If image processing techniques are used to recognize catheter location, then navigation assistance is provided, but accuracy is reduced due to lack of orientation information
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously compares real-time optical images from the catheter camera with pre-operative images and uses the comparison results to provide feedback on catheter position and orientation. This feedback loop maintains accuracy by constantly updating the location recognition based on actual visual feedback rather than relying solely on pre-planned paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters being measured by the camera from simple intensity values to include orientation information derived from image comparison. By analyzing how the captured images match with pre-operative images from different angles, the system extracts orientation parameters that were previously unavailable, thereby improving location recognition accuracy.
3Illumination intensity
If a camera is placed at the catheter tip for direct visualization, then anatomical viewing is enabled, but information about body orientation and camera orientation is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary computational process that analyzes the optical images captured by the camera and extracts orientation information from them. Rather than relying on separate orientation sensors, the intermediary image processing algorithm derives orientation data by comparing the captured anatomical views with the pre-operative 3D model, thus preserving both visualization and orientation information.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system enhances navigation accuracy by providing real-time position updates and orientation information, reducing the impact of movements caused by ventilation and heartbeat, and allowing for precise placement of medical tools like biopsy needles or ablation devices.
Implementation Method 1
capturing images via the optical sensor
Implementation Method 2
receiving signals representative of acceleration and velocity of the IMU
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for a catheter in a luminal network including capturing images via an optical sensor, comparing the captured images to pre-operative images, identifying fiducials in the captured images that correspond to fiducials in the pre-operative images; and depicting the position of the catheter in a three-dimensional (3D) model or two-dimensional (2D) images derived from the pre-operative images.