Predictive Respiratory Tracking for Percutaneous Tool Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
During needle biopsy procedures, it is challenging to accurately navigate medical tools to a region of interest within the thoracic cavity due to patient respiratory movements, relying heavily on clinician experience and physiological understanding, which can lead to inconsistent outcomes.
Innovation Solution
A system incorporating a percutaneous tool with a sensor, an electromagnetic tracking system, and a computing device that generates a 3D model of the patient's body, determines likely movement of the tool and region of interest throughout the respiratory cycle, and displays a graphical user interface to guide the clinician on optimal trajectories and interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If clinicians rely on experience and physiological understanding to determine tool placement, then the approach is simple and requires minimal equipment, but the outcomes are inconsistent and accuracy is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/experience-based approach of clinician judgment with an electromagnetic tracking system and computer-based predictive modeling. The EM tracking system uses electromagnetic fields to detect tool position, while software algorithms predict respiratory movement and adjust trajectories, substituting human experience with automated sensing and computation to achieve consistent sub-millimeter accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational layer between the clinician and the physical tool placement. The system uses electromagnetic sensors to detect tool position, processes this data through predictive algorithms that model respiratory movement, and provides real-time guidance feedback to the clinician, acting as an intermediary that enhances human capability without direct human-to-tool control.
2Reliability
If real-time tracking and predictive modeling systems are implemented, then needle placement accuracy improves, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a multi-functional integrated system where the electromagnetic tracking system serves multiple purposes: real-time tool position detection, respiratory movement tracking through body surface sensors, predictive modeling input data collection, and guidance feedback provision. This universal system handles sensing, computation, and guidance functions that would otherwise require separate devices, improving reliability while managing complexity through functional integration.
3Measurement precision
If clinicians use experience-based approaches without real-time feedback, then the procedure is quick and simple, but the precision of tool placement relative to moving regions of interest deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous real-time tracking and predictive modeling throughout the procedure. The electromagnetic tracking system continuously monitors tool position, while the predictive algorithms continuously update expected respiratory movement and adjust guidance trajectories. This continuous feedback loop maintains sub-millimeter precision throughout the dynamic procedure without requiring intermittent pauses for reassessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating predictive models of respiratory movement based on initial tracking data and individual patient characteristics. These pre-computed movement patterns are then applied in real-time to guide tool placement, allowing the system to anticipate and compensate for respiratory motion before it affects the procedure, thereby maintaining precision without adding significant time.
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 the accuracy and consistency of needle placement by providing predictive models and real-time guidance on tool trajectories and region interactions, improving the precision of medical procedures despite respiratory movements.
Implementation Method 1
an electromagnetic (EM) tracking system including an EM field generator configured to generate an EM field
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are systems, methods, and computer-readable media for navigating to and interacting with a region of interest during a respiratory cycle of a patient. An exemplary system includes a percutaneous tool, a plurality of patient sensors disposed on the patient, a tracking module configured to determine location and motion data of the plurality of patient sensors and a tool coupled to the percutaneous tool, a display device, and a computing device configured to receive a plurality of images of the patient's body, receive the location and motion data determined by the tracking module, generate a model of the interior of the patient, determine likely movement of the interior of the patient, the percutaneous tool, and the region of interest throughout the respiratory cycle, and cause the display device to display a graphical user interface including a window for depicting movement throughout the respiratory cycle.