Fiber-Optic Feeding Tube Shape Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current feeding tube placement methods, such as blind placement and imaging tracking, are either risky or require specialized equipment and facilities, while electromagnetic tracking is limited in representing the tube's shape and detecting buckling or misplacement, especially in altered anatomy.
Innovation Solution
Integration of a Fiber-Optic RealShape (FORS) sensor with a feeding tube to provide real-time shape tracking and reconstruction, allowing for accurate placement and detection of tube buckling or misplacement within anatomical tracts like the gastrointestinal tract.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If electromagnetic tracking is used to track feeding tube position, then real-time tracking can be performed at the patient bedside, but the tube shape cannot be fully represented and buckling or misplacement cannot be detected
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding tube is divided into multiple segments with embedded optical sensors at intervals along its length. This segmentation allows each segment to independently measure its local shape and position, providing comprehensive coverage of the entire tube configuration including curvature, buckling, and misplacement detection throughout the full tube length.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces electromagnetic sensing with fiber optic sensing technology. Optical fibers embedded in the tube walls measure mechanical deformation and shape changes through optical path length changes, enabling precise measurement of tube configuration without the limitations of electromagnetic fields in biological tissues.
2Reliability
If imaging tracking method is used to track feeding tube position, then safer and more successful placement can be achieved, but patient transport to specialized departments is required causing delays and additional complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding tube system performs its own self-tracking and self-monitoring functions through embedded optical sensors that continuously measure tube position, shape, and configuration. This eliminates the need for external imaging equipment and specialized personnel, allowing the tube to provide real-time feedback at the bedside without requiring patient transport to radiology or endoscopy departments.
Solution Approach 2:
The fiber optic sensing system integrates multiple functions into a single device: it simultaneously provides real-time position tracking, shape reconstruction, buckling detection, and misplacement identification. This multi-functional capability eliminates the need for separate imaging procedures and specialized equipment, enabling comprehensive monitoring at the patient bedside.
3Device complexity
If blind placement method is used to position feeding tube, then procedure simplicity is maintained, but mispositioning with airway can occur leading to pneumonia or pneumothorax
Solution Approach 1:
The optical sensing system provides real-time feedback on tube position, orientation, and shape during the placement procedure. This feedback enables operators to immediately detect if the tube is deviating from the correct path or entering the airway, allowing for immediate correction and preventing complications such as pneumonia or pneumothorax while maintaining procedural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary assessment and real-time monitoring during tube insertion to prevent mispositioning before it occurs. By continuously measuring tube configuration and providing immediate feedback, the system enables preventive detection of airway entry or incorrect positioning, eliminating the need for complex post-placement imaging while ensuring safety.
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
Enables accurate and safe feeding tube placement at the bedside, reducing complications and costs by providing comprehensive shape information and physiological parameter monitoring, enhancing patient safety and procedural efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
extracting high density strain measurements of the optical fiber derived from light emitted into and propagated through the optical fiber and reflected back within the optical fiber
Implementation Method 2
a characteristic backscatter of the optical fiber(s) (e.g., Rayleigh backscatter)
Implementation Method 3
controlled grating patterns within the optical fiber (e.g., Fiber Bragg Gratings)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A FORS feeding tube system employing a feeding tube (30) for channeling a fluid flow from a proximal end and a distal end of the feeding tube (30), and further employing a FORS sensor (40) for generating sensing data informative of a shape reconstruction of a segment or an entirety of FORS sensor (40). The feeding tube (30) and the FORS sensor (40) are integrated to configure a FORS feeding tube (20), and the sensing data is further informative of a shape of a segment or an entirety of FORS feeding tube (20) derived from the integration of feeding tube (30) and FORS sensor (40). The FORS feed tube system may further employ a navigation controller to control a tracking of a positioning of a segment or an entirety of the FORS feeding tube (20) within an anatomical tract (e.g., a gastrointenstinal tract).