Navigation System Target Location via Blood Flow Path Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current navigation systems face challenges in accurately locating complex-geometry medical devices, such as balloon catheters, relative to targeted tissue regions, especially in procedures like pulmonary vein ablation, due to discrepancies between navigation electrodes and the ablating surface, and difficulties in determining optimal treatment dose based on tissue thickness.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using a navigation system with processing circuitry to determine anatomical structures, calculate surface areas, and identify target treatment sites by analyzing anatomical images, determining vectors, planes, and surface areas to accurately locate and orient medical devices within the body, including determining tissue thickness for optimal treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If navigation systems use traditional imaging techniques (fluoroscopy) to locate medical devices, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but the measurement precision and reliability of target location are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational model that maps the relationship between navigation electrodes and the ablating surface. This model acts as a mediator that translates electrode positions into accurate representations of the actual treatment-delivering surface, resolving the discrepancy without requiring direct imaging of the complex device geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy or representation of the medical device's ablating surface through computational modeling. This digital twin allows the navigation system to track and visualize the actual treatment surface based on electrode positions, achieving precise location accuracy without directly imaging the complex physical geometry.
2Measurement precision
If navigation systems directly image the ablating surface of complex-geometry devices, then the target location accuracy improves, but the device complexity and difficulty of inference increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct mechanical/optical imaging of the ablating surface with a computational field-based approach. Instead of physically imaging the complex surface geometry, the system uses electromagnetic field data from navigation electrodes and computational algorithms to infer and locate the ablating surface position, substituting a simpler measurement approach for a complex direct imaging problem.
3Productivity
If pre-procedural identification of ablation target sites is performed, then the productivity and predictability of procedures improve, but the device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary computational analysis and target site identification before the actual ablation procedure. By pre-processing the anatomical data and identifying optimal treatment locations in advance, the system reduces procedure time and improves efficiency, while the computational complexity is managed through algorithmic optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for automatic location of a target treatment structure, such as a pulmonary vein ostium, from an anatomical image. The method includes calculating a most likely path of blood flow through a pulmonary vein based on a cross-sectional area minimization technique and calculating pulmonary vein geometry as a function of length. For example, a pulmonary vein ostium may be located by analyzing a change in pulmonary vein dimensional size or other anatomical factors, such as absolute size. The method may also include determining tissue thickness at the pulmonary vein ostium or other treatment size for treatment dose optimization. The method may be an algorithm performed by a processing unit of a navigation system or other component of a medical system.