SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMAGE-BASED INTERVENTIONAL DEVICE TRACKING AND SCAN PLANE GUIDANCE

• US 20070249934A1
• Filed: 09/15/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company, Johns Hopkins University
• Original Assignee: Johns Hopkins University
• Inventors: Atalar, Ergin, Sathyanarayana, Shashank, Solaiyappan, Meiyappan, Aksit, Pelin
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/427
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2051 Electromagnetic tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/367 creating a 3D dataset from 2D images using position information
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/374 NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/20 Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0037 Performing a preliminary scan, e.g. a prescan for identifying a region of interest
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/287 involving active visualization of interventional instruments, e.g. using active tracking RF coils or coils for intentionally creating magnetic field inhomogeneities
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/34084 implantable coils or coils being geometrically adaptable to the sample, e.g. flexible coils or coils comprising mutually movable parts
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/4833 using spatially selective excitation of the volume of interest, e.g. selecting non-orthogonal or inclined slices
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/543 Control of the operation of the MR system, e.g. setting of acquisition parameters prior to or during MR data acquisition, dynamic shimming, use of one or more scout images for scan plane prescription G01R33/546 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/546 Interface between the MR system and the user, e.g. for controlling the operation of the MR system or for the design of pulse sequences
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5608 Data processing and visualization specially adapted for MR, e.g. for feature analysis and pattern recognition on the basis of measured MR data, segmentation of measured MR data, edge contour detection on the basis of measured MR data, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of signal-to-noise ratio by means of noise filtering or apodization, for enhancing measured MR data in terms of resolution by means for deblurring, windowing, zero filling, or generation of gray-scaled images, colour-coded images or images displaying vectors instead of pixels image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

An MR system and method for tracking a device of an interventional procedure within a scan subject is disclosed. At least two MR projections of the device are acquired, from which 3D coordinates of the device are determined. Subsequent image acquisition is adjusted with respect to the coordinates of the device to guide movement thereof towards target anatomy. The present system and method provide the ability to locate and visualize continuous portions of an interventional device in 3D, and do not require the use of embedded RF localizing coils.

Claims

1. An MRI system comprising:

a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet to impress a polarizing magnetic field;

an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module designed to transmit and receive RF signals to and from an RF coil assembly;

a computer having a program loaded thereon which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to;

acquire a number of 2D MR projections from the transceiver system; and

locate and determine an orientation of a continuous portion of an interventional device using the 2D MR projections.

2. The MRI system of claim 1 wherein the program further causes the computer to render a visualization of the continuous portion of the device, showing its location and orientation with respect to a target plane of a scan subject.

3. The MRI system of claim 1 wherein the program further causes the computer to automatically detect the device in the number of 2D MR projections and generate a set of 3D coordinates of the device therefrom.

4. The MRI system of claim 1 further comprising a manual device detection input configured to permit a user to manually identify the device in the number of 2D MR projections.

5. The MRI system of claim 1 further comprising a user input connected to allow a user to define a scan plane of interest with respect to the location and orientation of the continuous portion of the interventional device.

6. The MRI system of claim 5 wherein the program further causes the computer to generate instructions causing MR data acquisition to re-orient into the scan plane of interest.

7. The MRI system of claim 6 wherein the program further causes the computer to periodically update the desired scan plane to reflect movement of the continuous portion of the device.

8. The MRI system of claim 1 wherein execution of the program does not require the computer to acquire signals from a localizing coil of the interventional device.

9. The MRI system of claim 1 wherein the program causes the computer to acquire two substantially perpendicular 2D MR projections and to locate and determine the orientation of the continuous portion of the interventional device in 3D using only the two perpendicular 2D MR projections.

10. A method for tracking an interventional device comprising:

acquiring at least two non-coplanar MR images;

locating an interventional device in the at least two images;

reconstructing a 3D shape of the interventional device from the at least two images;

determining a plane of interest with respect to the device; and

adjusting image acquisition to the plane of interest.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein adjusting image acquisition comprises at least one of rotating and translating a current plane of data acquisition to be coplanar with the plane of interest.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein locating the interventional device in the at least two images comprises one of automatic locating or manual locating.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising visually guiding repositioning of the interventional device towards a target plane.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the target plane is defined by a desired eventual orientation for the device, favorable to an interventional procedure.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein signals are not acquired from embedded RF coils.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising updating a position of the device relative to the plane of interest in real-time to reflect motion of the device.

17. A computer readable storage medium having an MR guidance interface stored thereon, the interface comprising:

an MR projection acquisition control;

a device detection tool configured to indicate a location of an interventional device in a first MR projection and a location of the device in a second MR projection;

a 3D reconstructor programmed to determine 3D coordinates of the device from the MR projections;

a user input to define a scan plane with respect to the 3D coordinates of the device; and

a guidance window configured to display the scan plane and a target plane.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the first MR projection and the second MR projection are not coplanar.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the interface further comprises a prompt to initiate acquisition of a third MR projection if the first and second MR projections are insufficient to determine one of a continuous shape or an orientation of the device.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the interface further comprises a device geometry input.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the interface further comprises at least one MR projection image display to visualize MR projection images acquired via the acquisition control.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 wherein the device detection tool of the interface is further configured to receive manual identification of the device in the first MR projection and the second MR projection.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the device detection tool of the interface further comprises an automatic detection tool using a contrast differentiation algorithm.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the 3D reconstructor of the interface is further programmed to determine the 3D coordinates from only two MR projections.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the 3D coordinates indicate a shape and an orientation of the device with respect to the target plane.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the user input of the interface further comprises a selection tool indicating desired scan plane orientations relative to the device, including collinear with a major axis of the device, perpendicular to and intersecting a tip of the device, perpendicular to and ahead of a tip of the device, and encompassing the entire device.