Lung Navigation Path Planning with 3D Risk Assessment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current diagnostic and treatment procedures for lung diseases, particularly lung cancer, face challenges in minimizing trauma to patients due to the invasive nature of biopsy procedures and the need for precise navigation within the lungs to accurately target lesions and nodules.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for planning lung tissue treatment procedures that involve generating a 3D model of the patient's lungs, identifying target locations, determining access paths to these locations, calculating the risk of injury to intervening structures, and displaying these paths and risks to facilitate minimally invasive approaches.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If biopsy procedures are performed to confirm lung disease diagnosis, then diagnostic accuracy is improved, but patient trauma increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary 3D modeling and access path planning before the actual biopsy procedure. By pre-identifying optimal access paths that avoid critical structures and pre-visualizing the procedure on a digital twin of the patient's anatomy, the system enables minimally invasive approaches that reduce patient trauma while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a computational modeling system as an intermediary between diagnosis and treatment. This digital intermediary creates virtual representations of lung anatomy and simulates various access paths, allowing clinicians to select optimal routes that minimize trauma to the patient while ensuring accurate tissue sampling.
2Manufacturing precision
If navigation tools are used to reach target locations in lungs, then treatment precision is improved, but procedure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a digital copy or virtual model of the patient's lung anatomy through 3D reconstruction from medical images. This digital twin serves as a planning platform where access paths can be visualized and optimized without adding physical complexity to the actual procedure. The virtual model guides the physical navigation tools, simplifying the overall process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from 2D medical images to 3D volumetric models, adding a spatial dimension that enables more intuitive planning and visualization of access paths. This dimensional enhancement allows clinicians to better understand the spatial relationships between target lesions and critical structures, improving treatment precision without significantly increasing procedural complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple access paths are evaluated, then safety is improved, but calculation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates multiple access paths beyond what is strictly necessary, evaluating more options than the minimum required. By performing excessive calculations for potential paths and then filtering them based on safety criteria, the system ensures that the selected path is optimal for patient safety while keeping the actual decision-making process efficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The computational evaluation of multiple access paths is performed in advance during the planning phase, before the actual procedure begins. By pre-calculating and comparing multiple routes, identifying potential risks, and selecting the optimal path beforehand, the system improves safety without adding time pressure during the procedure itself.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are systems, devices, and methods for planning a procedure for treatment of tissue in a patient's lungs. An exemplary method includes generating a three-dimensional (3D) model of the patient's lungs, displaying the 3D model of the patient's lungs, selecting a target location in the tissue of the patient's lungs as displayed on the 3D model, identifying a point on a pleural surface of the patient's lungs with access to the target location, determining an access path between the target location and the identified point on the pleural surface, calculating a risk of injury to intervening structures between the identified point on the pleural surface and the target location, based on the determined access path, and displaying the access path and the calculated risk of injury for the access path on the 3D model.