Intracorporeal-imaging head

• US 20040204646A1
• Filed: 05/03/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Spectrum Dynamics LLC
• Original Assignee: V-Target Technologies Ltd.
• Inventors: Nagler, Michael, Zilberstein, Yoel
• Application Number:
  US10/836,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20040204646A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/424
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/05 characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/31 for the rectum, e.g. proctoscopes, sigmoidoscopes , colonoscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0035 adapted for acquisition of images from more than one imaging mode, e.g. combining MRI and optical tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/06 Devices, other than using radiation, for detecting or locating foreign bodies for removing same A61B17/50 ; determining position of probes within or on the body of the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/418 lymph vessels, ducts or nodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4057 by using radiation sources located in the interior of the body A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/425 using detectors specially adapted to be used in the interior of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4258 for detecting non x-ray radiation, e.g. gamma radiation A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 1/161 Applications in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting apparatus for radiation diagnosis A61B6/00

Abstract

An intracorporeal-imaging head, is provided, which combines at least optical and radioactive-emission imaging, possibly also with high-resolution position tracking. The radioactive-emission-imaging probe has a wide-aperture, or coarse collimator, for high count-rate efficiency; nevertheless, the high-resolution position tracking ensures high resolution of the radioactive-emission image. Specifically, wide-aperture collimation-deconvolution algorithms are provided, for obtaining a high-efficiency, high resolution image of a radioactive-emission source, by scanning the radioactive-emission source with a probe of a wide-aperture collimator, and at the same time, monitoring the position of the radioactive-emission probe, at very fine time intervals, to obtain the equivalence of fine-aperture collimation. The blurring effect of the wide aperture is then corrected mathematically. The intracorporeal-imaging head may further include ultrasound and MRI imagers, as well as a surgical instrument, such as a biopsy needle, a knife, a cryosurgery device, a resection wire, a laser ablation device, an ultrasound ablation device, other devices for localized radiation ablations, devices for implanting brachytherapy seeds, and other minimally invasive devices. According to another embodiment, an intracorporeal-detecting head is provided, which combines at least optical and radioactive-emission detectors, for a “Yes or No” type detection, by the at least two modalities.

Claims

1. An intracorporeal-imaging head, comprising:

a housing, which comprises;

a first optical imaging system, mounted on said housing, adapted to optically image a portion of a tissue; and

at least one radioactive-emission probe, mounted on said housing, adapted to image radioactive-emission from said portion.

2. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, comprising a position-tracking device, mounted on said housing, in a fixed positional relation with said radioactive-emission probe, for providing positional information for said radioactive-emission probe.

3. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 2, wherein said position-tracking device has six degrees of freedom.

4. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 2, adapted for obtaining high-resolution, radioactive-emission imaging by collimation-deconvolution algorithms.

5. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said first optical imaging system includes:

a lighting system, adapted to shine light on intracorporeal objects;

an lens, for focusing images of said intracorporeal objects; and

a light detecting array, for detecting said images of said intracorporeal objects.

6. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, comprising a second optical imaging system, adapted for zooming in on suspected pathologies, identified by said first optical imaging system.

7. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 6, wherein said second optical imaging system is a video camera.

8. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 6, wherein said second optical imaging system is a still camera.

9. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a single-pixel probe.

10. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a single-pixel, collimated probe.

11. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 10, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a tube collimator.

12. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 10, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a wide-angle collimator.

13. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel probe.

14. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel, collimated probe.

15. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 14, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has tube collimators.

16. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 14, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has wide-angle collimators.

17. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said housing is tubular, and said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel probe, with detector pixels arranged radially about a center, each pixel having a collimator.

18. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 17, wherein said collimators are rectangular.

19. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 17, wherein said collimators fan out, in a manner similar to flower petals.

20. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said at least one radioactive-emission probe comprises a plurality of radioactive-emission probes.

21. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, comprising at least one ultrasound-imaging device.

22. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, comprising an MRI imaging device.

23. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, adapted for rotation.

24. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, adapted to be mounted on an endoscope for insertion through a trucar valve.

25. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, adapted to be mounted on an endoscope for insertion through a body lumen.

26. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, adapted to be mounted on a resectoscope for insertion through a urinary tract.

27. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, adapted to be mounted on a colonoscope.

28. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, comprising a surgical instrument.

29. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said first optical imaging system is a video camera.

30. The intracorporeal-imaging head of claim 1, wherein said first optical imaging system is a still camera.

31. A method of intracorporeal imaging, comprising:

providing an imager;

performing a first optical imaging of an intracorporeal portion of a tissue, by said imager; and

performing a radioactive-emission imaging of said portion, by said imager.

32. The method of claim 31, comprising performing said radioactive-emission imaging with a wide-aperture collimation probe, and position tracking said probe.

33. The method of claim 32, and further including obtaining high-resolution, radioactive-emission imaging by collimation-deconvolution algorithms.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said first optical imaging includes:

shining a light on intracorporeal objects;

focusing images of said intracorporeal objects; and

detecting said images of said intracorporeal objects.

35. The method of claim 31, comprising:

identifying suspected pathologies by a first optical imaging system; and

zooming in suspected pathologies by a second optical imaging system.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein said second optical imaging system is a video camera.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein said second optical imaging system is a still camera.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a single-pixel radioactive-emission probe.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a single-pixel, collimated probe.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a tube collimator.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a wide-angle collimator.

42. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a multi-pixel radioactive-emission probe.

43. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a multi-pixel, collimated probe.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has tube collimators.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has wide-angle collimators.

46. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a multi-pixel probe, with detector pixels arranged radially about a center, each pixel having a collimator.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein said collimators are rectangular.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein said collimators fan out, in a manner similar to flower petals.

49. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said radioactive-emission imaging includes performing said radioactive-emission imaging by a plurality of radioactive-emission probes.

50. The method of claim 31, and further including imaging said portion by ultrasound.

51. The method of claim 31, and further including imaging said portion by MRI.

52. The method of claim 31, wherein said first optical imaging system is a video camera.

53. The method of claim 31, wherein said first optical imaging system is a still camera.

54. An intracorporeal-detecting head, comprising:

housing, which comprises;

a first optical detecting system, mounted on said housing, adapted to optically view a portion of a tissue; and

at least one radioactive-emission probe, mounted on said housing, adapted to detect radioactive-emission from said portion.

55. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, comprising a position-tracking device, mounted on said housing, in a fixed positional relation with said radioactive-emission probe, for providing positional information for said radioactive-emission probe.

56. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 55, wherein said position-tracking device has six degrees of freedom.

57. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 55, adapted for obtaining high-resolution, radioactive-emission detecting by collimation-deconvolution algorithms.

58. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said first optical detecting system includes:

a lighting system, adapted to shine light on intracorporeal objects;

an lens, for focusing instantaneous images of said intracorporeal objects; and

a light detecting array, for detecting said instantaneous images of said intracorporeal objects.

59. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, comprising a second optical detecting system, adapted for zooming in on suspected pathologies, identified by said first optical detecting system.

60. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a single-pixel probe.

61. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a single-pixel, collimated probe.

62. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 61, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a tube collimator.

63. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 61, wherein said single-pixel, collimated probe has a wide-angle collimator.

64. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel probe.

65. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel, collimated probe.

66. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 65, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has tube collimators.

67. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 65, wherein said multi-pixel, collimated probe has wide-angle collimators.

68. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said housing is tubular, and said radioactive-emission probe is a multi-pixel probe, with detector pixels arranged radially about a center, each pixel having a collimator.

69. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 68, wherein said collimators are rectangular.

70. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 68, wherein said collimators fan out, in a manner similar to flower petals.

71. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, wherein said at least one radioactive-emission probe comprises a plurality of radioactive-emission probes.

72. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, comprising at least one ultrasound-detecting device.

73. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, comprising an MRI detecting device.

74. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, adapted for rotation.

75. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, adapted to be mounted on an endoscope for insertion through a trucar valve.

76. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, adapted to be mounted on an endoscope for insertion through a body lumen.

77. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, adapted to be mounted on a resectoscope for insertion through a urinary tract.

78. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, adapted to be mounted on a colonoscope.

79. The intracorporeal-detecting head of claim 54, comprising a surgical instrument.

80. A method of intracorporeal detecting, comprising:

providing an detector;

performing a first optical detecting of an intracorporeal portion of a tissue, by said detector; and

performing a radioactive-emission detecting of said portion, by said detector.