Method and apparatus for tracking insertion depth
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining a position of an elongate instrument insertable into a cavity, comprising:
- at least one sensor adapted to be positioned adjacent to the elongate instrument; and
at least one magnetic field source positioned adjacent to the sensor, wherein the sensor is further adapted to detect a motion of the elongate instrument when the instrument is advanced or withdrawn relative to the sensor.
4 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for tracking insertion depth of endoscopes are described herein. One method for determining endoscopic insertion depth within a body is to utilize a fully instrumented endoscope configured to determine its depth of insertion. Another method uses a datum device which interacts with the endoscope to determine how much of the endoscope has passed by a reference boundary. A fully instrumented endoscope can poll the status of the entire endoscope and then determine its position relative to anatomical boundaries, e.g., the anus. The polled information is obtained by sensors or transponders located along the length of the endoscope. When using an endoscope with a datum, the datum can read positional information by polling the status of sensors or transponders located along the body of the endoscope as the endoscope passes through the anus. The datum can be affixed to the patient or to another fixed reference point.
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Citations
83 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining a position of an elongate instrument insertable into a cavity, comprising:
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at least one sensor adapted to be positioned adjacent to the elongate instrument; and
at least one magnetic field source positioned adjacent to the sensor, wherein the sensor is further adapted to detect a motion of the elongate instrument when the instrument is advanced or withdrawn relative to the sensor. - 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, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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36. An instrument configured to determine a position of the instrument within a cavity, comprising:
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an elongate device having a proximal portion and a selectively steerable distal portion; and
at least one electrically conductive circuit disposed along at least a portion of a length of the elongate device;
wherein the circuit is adapted to indicate an insertion depth of the elongate device within the cavity by indicating a change within the circuit indicative of a position along the length where the elongate device enters the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. An apparatus for determining a position of an elongate instrument insertable into a cavity, comprising:
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a substrate for positioning upon or within a body of a patient; and
at least one sensor positionable upon the substrate such that the sensor is adjacent to an opening into the body, wherein the sensor is adapted to detect a motion of the elongate instrument when the instrument is advanced or withdrawn through the opening. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method of determining a position of an elongate instrument insertable into a cavity, comprising:
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positioning at least one sensor adjacent to an opening of the cavity;
providing a magnetic field adjacent to the sensor;
passing the elongate instrument through the opening adjacent to the sensor such that the magnetic field is altered; and
correlating alterations in the magnetic field to movement of the elongate instrument. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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Specification