Coordinated Electromagnetic Sensors for Lateral Instrument Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electromagnetic tracking sensors for medical devices, such as catheters and biopsy needles, are inadequate for tracking instruments that require lateral deployment due to design constraints and lack of accuracy, particularly in navigating to sites outside the central axis of the body passageway.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with a distal portion featuring a lateral opening and a plurality of coordinated electromagnetic sensors, including wound coils, generates a virtual axis of travel aligned with the tool insertion axis, allowing for precise tracking and deployment of instruments outside the central axis, while fitting within existing design constraints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a 6-DOF electromagnetic sensor is used for tracking, then tracking accuracy is improved, but the sensor size becomes large relative to the device diameter, creating design problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the electromagnetic tracking function into multiple separate 5-DOF sensors distributed along the device shaft rather than using a single large 6-DOF sensor at the tip. This segmentation allows each sensor to be small enough to fit within the device diameter constraints while collectively providing accurate tracking capability through coordinated measurement of multiple parameters.
2Area of moving object
If a 5-DOF electromagnetic sensor is used for tracking, then device size is reduced, but roll tracking is lost, preventing effective targeting of sites outside the central axis
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple 5-DOF electromagnetic sensors at different positions along the device shaft to create a coordinated tracking system. By merging the data from these separate sensors and using mathematical transformation, the system achieves virtual 6-DOF tracking capability including roll information, enabling effective lateral deployment and targeting of sites outside the central body passageway.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual axis as an intermediary construct that transforms the limited 5-DOF sensor measurements into effective 6-DOF tracking information. The virtual axis serves as a mathematical mediator that calculates the orientation and position of the lateral opening based on measurements from multiple 5-DOF sensors, enabling roll tracking and lateral deployment capability without requiring a physical 6-DOF sensor.
3Measurement precision
If electromagnetic sensors are positioned to track lateral deployment, then tracking accuracy for lateral instruments is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the electromagnetic sensor system to serve multiple functions: tracking the position and orientation of the device shaft, determining the orientation of the lateral opening, and enabling both longitudinal and lateral deployment tracking. The same array of 5-DOF sensors used for basic position tracking is also utilized to calculate virtual axis orientation for lateral deployment, reducing the need for additional specialized sensors and minimizing overall device complexity.
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 solution enables accurate tracking and deployment of medical instruments laterally, improving the precision of procedures by aligning the virtual axis with the tool insertion axis, thus effectively targeting sites outside the central body passageway, and is cost-effective to manufacture.
Implementation Method 1
a tracking component that is a plurality of coordinated electromagnetic sensors for generating a virtual axis of travel for the medical instrument through the opening, the virtual axis passing through the opening of the device and being aligned with the tool insertion axis
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device for the electromagnetic tracking of a medical instrument transported through the medical device. The medical device has a central axis and a channel that receives and transports a medical instrument through the medical device. The channel extends to a distal portion of the medical device and connects with an opening in the medical device that is not aligned with the central axis. The medical device includes a tracking component that is a plurality of coordinated electromagnetic sensors for generating a virtual axis of travel for the medical instrument, with the virtual axis passing through the opening of the device and being aligned with tool insertion axis.