Coil arrangement for electromagnetic tracking method and system

• US 20080204004A1
• Filed: 02/23/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stryker European Operations Holdings, LLC (Stryker Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Anderson, Peter Traneus
• Granted Patent: US 8,249,689 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/207.13
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2051 Electromagnetic tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3975 active
• 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 90/36 Image-producing devices or illumination devices not otherwise provided for

Abstract

An electromagnetic tracking coil arrangement, comprising three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and a fourth electromagnetic sensor that is not co-planar with the three co-planar sensors, wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are each located at a vertex of a tetrahedron.

Claims

1. An electromagnetic coil arrangement, comprising:

three co-planar electromagnetic sensors; and

a fourth electromagnetic sensor that is not co-planar with the three co-planar sensors, wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are each located at a vertex of a tetrahedron.

2. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor each comprise a coil trio.

3. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are located an equal distance apart.

4. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are not all an equal distance apart.

5. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein each of the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are electromagnetic field generators configured to generate a magnetic field.

6. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are electromagnetic receivers configured to sense a magnetic field.

7. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 1, wherein each of the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor comprise a Hall Effect, a magnetoresistance or a flux gate device.

8. An electromagnetic tracking system, comprising:

an electromagnetic sensor arrangement comprising three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and a fourth electromagnetic sensor that is not co-planar with the three co-planar sensors, wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are each located at a vertex of a tetrahedron; and

at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor.

9. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor comprises a singe dipole coil.

10. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein each of the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor comprise a coil trio.

11. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein each of the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are spaced apart from each other.

12. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein each of the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are electromagnetic field generators configured to generate at least one magnetic field and the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor is an electromagnetic receiver configured to sense the at least one magnetic field.

13. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor is an electromagnetic field generator configured to generate at least one magnetic field and the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors and the fourth electromagnetic sensor are electromagnetic receivers configured to sense the at least one magnetic field.

14. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, further comprising a processor configured to determine a position of the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor relative to the electromagnetic sensor arrangement.

15. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to resolve on which side of a single plane the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor is located, the single plane is formed by the three co-planar electromagnetic sensors.

16. The electromagnetic tracking system of claim 8, wherein the at least one complementary electromagnetic sensor is coupled to at least one instrument or device to be tracked.

17. A method of electromagnetic tracking comprising:

providing at least one electromagnetic field generator for generating at least one magnetic field;

providing an array of electromagnetic receivers for sensing at least one characteristic of the at least one magnetic field, wherein the array of electromagnetic receivers comprises three co-planar electromagnetic receivers and a fourth electromagnetic receiver that is not co-planar with the three co-planar receivers, and wherein the three co-planar electromagnetic receivers and the fourth electromagnetic receiver are each located at a vertex of a tetrahedron; and

transmitting at least one signal indicative of the at least one characteristic of the at least one magnetic field to a processor.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising processing the at least one signal to resolve a position of the at least one electromagnetic field generator that generated the at least one magnetic field relative to the array of electromagnetic receivers.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein processing the at least one signal comprises determining an average magnetic field gradient at the center of the array of electromagnetic receivers, and wherein the average magnetic field gradient is processed to resolve the position of the electromagnetic field generator relative to the array of electromagnetic receivers.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the array of electromagnetic receivers is coupled to a rigid support frame.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the array of electromagnetic receivers is coupled to a table configured for use in surgery.

22. An electromagnetic coil arrangement, comprising:

a plurality of electromagnetic sensors arranged around a volumetric region;

wherein each of the plurality of electromagnetic sensors are spaced apart from each other, and wherein the plurality of electromagnetic sensors are not all in the same plane.

23. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 22, wherein the plurality of electromagnetic sensors comprise four electromagnetic sensors located at the vertices of a tetrahedron.

24. The electromagnetic coil arrangement of claim 22, wherein the plurality of electromagnetic sensors are arranged with at least one electromagnetic sensor not located in the same plane as the other electromagnetic sensors.