Ultrasound Sensor Shape Identification for Interventional Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for tracking the shape and path of interventional medical devices during procedures lack accurate and real-time methods to account for tissue and probe motion, which can lead to inaccuracies in determining the device's position and shape within the body.
Innovation Solution
A controller and method utilizing a movable passive ultrasound sensor and a fixed sensor to emit and receive tracking beams, allowing the processor to determine the shape and path of the interventional device by accounting for relative movement and tissue motion, with the fixed sensor serving as a reference marker to compensate for these factors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a passive ultrasound sensor is used to track the interventional device, then the device position can be determined, but tissue and probe motion cause inaccuracies in the position and shape determination
Solution Approach 1:
A passive ultrasound sensor is introduced as an intermediary element attached to the interventional device. This sensor acts as a mediator that reflects ultrasound beams, enabling the system to track the device's position, shape, and path through signal reflection rather than direct measurement, thereby maintaining tracking reliability despite tissue and probe motion
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously receives reflected ultrasound signals from the passive sensor and processes them to determine the device's position and shape. This feedback loop allows real-time compensation for tissue and probe motion by comparing successive position measurements and adjusting the tracking data accordingly
2Loss of information
If tracking is performed over a period of time to determine shape and path, then more comprehensive device information is obtained, but motion artifacts increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary processing of ultrasound signals to establish a reference position and shape of the interventional device before analyzing motion. By pre-processing the data to account for initial device configuration, the system can more accurately track subsequent movements and distinguish between intentional device manipulation and artifacts from tissue or probe motion
Solution Approach 2:
The tracking system dynamically adjusts its analysis based on the detected motion patterns. By continuously updating the reference frame and adapting to the device's changing position and orientation over time, the system maintains measurement precision even as the device moves through complex paths within the body
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, real-time visualization and tracking of the interventional device's shape and path, improving the precision of medical procedures by accounting for tissue and probe motion, thereby enhancing the reliability of the device's deployment and positioning within the body.
Implementation Method 1
an ultrasound probe 102 emits an imaging beam 103 that sweeps across a passive ultrasound sensor 104
Implementation Method 2
Time-of-flight measurements provide the axial/radial distance of the passive ultrasound sensor from the imaging array
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for determining shape of an interventional device includes a memory that stores instructions, and a processor that executes the instructions. When executed by the processor, the instructions cause the controller to execute a process that includes controlling an imaging probe to emit at least one tracking beam to an interventional medical device over a period of time comprising multiple different points of time. The process also includes determining a shape of the interventional medical device, based on a response to the tracking beams received over the period of time from a first sensor that moves along the interventional medical device during the period of time relative to a fixed location on the interventional medical device for the period of time.