MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND IMAGING SYSTEMS
First Claim
1. A locating system for determining the location and orientation of an invasive medical instrument relative to a reference frame, comprising:
- a plurality of field generators which generate known, distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
a plurality of sensors situated in the invasive medical instrument proximate the distal end thereof which generate sensor signals in response to said fields; and
a signal processor which has an input;
for a plurality of signals corresponding to said drive signals and said sensor signals and which computes the three location coordinates and three orientation coordinates of a portion of the invasive medical instrument, responsive to said drive and sensor signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A locating system for determining the location and orientation of an invasive medical instrument, for example a catheter (10) or endoscope, relative to a reference frame, comprising: a plurality of field generators (18, 20, 22) which generate known, distinguishable fields, preferably continuous AC magnetic fields, in response to drive signals; a plurality of sensors (30, 32, 34) situated in the invasive medical instrument (10) proximate the distal end thereof which generate sensor signals in response to said fields; and a signal processor (26) which has an input for a plurality of signals corresponding to said drive signals and said sensor signals and which produces the three location coordinates and three orientation coordinates of a point on the invasive medical instrument.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. A locating system for determining the location and orientation of an invasive medical instrument relative to a reference frame, comprising:
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a plurality of field generators which generate known, distinguishable fields in response to drive signals;
a plurality of sensors situated in the invasive medical instrument proximate the distal end thereof which generate sensor signals in response to said fields; and
a signal processor which has an input;
for a plurality of signals corresponding to said drive signals and said sensor signals and which computes the three location coordinates and three orientation coordinates of a portion of the invasive medical instrument, responsive to said drive and sensor signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32)
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29. An imaging system for intra-body ultrasonic imaging comprising:
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a invasive medical instrument having an axial-looking ultrasonic imaging transducer attached to a distal end of the instrument, which transducer generates a representation of the acoustic properties of tissue beyond the distal end;
means for manipulating the distal end to change the orientation thereof; and
image reconstruction circuitry which receives a plurality of said representations acquired at different orientations of the distal end and produces a three dimensional map of the acoustic properties of tissue at least partially surrounding the distal end based on said plurality of representations acquired at different orientations of the distal end.
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33. A method of determining the position and orientation of an invasive medical instrument having a distal end, comprising:
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(a) generating a plurality of distinguishable, geometrically different AC magnetic fields;
(b) sensing the AC magnetic fields at a plurality of sensors proximate the distal end; and
(c) computing six dimensions of position and orientation of a portion of the invasive medical instrument responsive to signals representative of the generated magnetic fields and the sensed magnetic fields. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 38, 39)
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37. An ultrasonic intra-body imaging method comprising:
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(a) inserting an ultrasonic transducer into the body, said ultrasonic transducer producing a representation of the acoustic properties of tissue beyond an end of the transducer;
(b) manipulating the orientation of the transducer to provide a plurality of said representations;
(c) determining the six dimensions of position and orientation of the transducer for each of the representations; and
(d) constructing a three dimensional map of the acoustic properties of the tissue in a region at least partially surrounding the end of the transducer from said plurality of representations.
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- 40. A invasive medical instrument comprising a plurality of at least three magnetic field sensors proximate the distal end thereof, said sensors having a fixed orientation therebetween.
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58. Apparatus for steering the distal end of an invasive medical instrument comprising:
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a flat relatively flexible portion being slit along a portion of the length thereof to form two portions which are attached at a first end thereof, said first end being attached to the distal end of the instrument;
a pair of wires, one end of each of which being attached to one of said portions at a second end thereof; and
means for changing the relative lengths of the wires whereby the flexible element is bent, thereby steering the distal end of the instrument.
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60. A method of producing a three dimensional image of the internal surface of an internal body organ comprising:
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measuring the distance to said surface from a plurality of orientations and positions within the internal surface; and
assembling the distance measurements to form an image of the surface. - View Dependent Claims (61)
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- 62. A invasive medical instrument comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensors and an ultrasound transducer proximate the distal end thereof.
Specification