METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING BIOPSIES

• US 20110082363A1
• Filed: 06/12/2009
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.), The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.), The Government of The US As Represented By The Secretary of Health & Human
• Inventors: Farmer, Ian, Kruecker, Jochen, Choyke, Peter Lyle, Xu, Sheng, Pinto, Peter, Wood, Bradford J., Shechter, Guy
• Granted Patent: US 8,447,384 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/411
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0233 Pointed or sharp biopsy instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2051 Electromagnetic tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/364 Correlation of different images or relation of image positions in respect to the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/374 NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/378 using ultrasound
• 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 8/4254 using sensors mounted on the probe

Abstract

A method and system for performing biopsies can include an imaging system (190) for obtaining diagnostic images of a target region (200); a tracking system (100); a probe (75) having a deployable biopsy needle for performing a biopsy procedure where the tracking system generates tracking information for at least one of the probe and the biopsy needle; an ultrasound imaging system (50) for obtaining ultrasound imaging of the target region; and a computer (150) in communication with the tracking system, the imaging system and the ultrasound imaging system. The computer can register the tracking system with the imaging system. The computer transfers a marking (500) of a biopsy site associated with the biopsy procedure from the ultrasound imaging to the diagnostic images based on the tracking information and the registration of the tracking system with the diagnostic images.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a probe (75) with a deployable biopsy needle;

acquiring diagnostic images of a target region (200) of a patient (20);

registering a tracking system (100) with the diagnostic images;

performing a biopsy procedure of the target region;

obtaining ultrasound imaging of the target region during the biopsy procedure;

acquiring tracking information for a location of at least one of the biopsy needle and the probe during the biopsy procedure;

marking a biopsy site (500) for the biopsy procedure on the ultrasound imaging; and

transforming the biopsy site from the ultrasound imaging to the diagnostic images based on the tracking information and the registration of the tracking system with the diagnostic images.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking system (100) is an electromagnetic tracking system, and wherein at least one of the probe (75) and the biopsy needle comprises one or more electromagnetic sensors (80).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the target region is a prostate (200), wherein the imaging system is a magnetic resonance imaging system (190) and further comprising displaying an MRI image showing the biopsy site.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

performing the marking of the biopsy site on the ultrasound imaging in real-time; and

using the diagnostic images having the marked biopsy site thereon for performing another medical procedure on the patient.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

acquiring biopsy sites (500) for a plurality of patients (20);

associating the biopsy sites with a common coordinate system; and

generating a distribution map using the common coordinate system.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising at least one of:

training clinician to perform biopsy procedures using the distribution map; and

using a correlation between the diagnostic images and pathological examination in an image processing algorithm for the detection of cancer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing imaging correction to account for target region motion.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting at least one of an ultrasound transducer type and a patient position during a medical procedure based on the diagnostic images having the marked biopsy sites

9. A computer-readable storage medium in which computer-executable code is stored, the computer-executable code configured to cause a computing device in which the computer-readable storage medium is loaded to execute the steps of:

registering a tracking system (100) with diagnostic images, the tracking system being capable of tracking at least one of a probe (75), a biopsy needle deployable from the probe, and a needle guide operably connected with the probe;

obtaining ultrasound imaging of a target region (200) and acquiring tracking information for a location of at least one of the probe, the biopsy needle and the needle guide during a biopsy procedure; and

transferring a marking (500) of a biopsy site associated with the biopsy procedure from the ultrasound imaging to the diagnostic images based on the tracking information and the registration of the tracking system with the diagnostic images.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising computer-executable code for causing the computing device to retrieve the marking (500) of the biopsy site based on a recording of the ultrasound imaging.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising computer-executable code for causing the computing device to detect a position of the biopsy needle based on the ultrasound imaging and to define the marking (500) of the biopsy site based on the detected position.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the diagnostic images are generated using at least one of magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, contrast ultrasound, positron emission tomography, and single photon emission computed tomography.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising computer-executable code for causing the computing device to generate a map distribution comprising marked biopsy sites (500) for a plurality of patients (20).

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising computer-executable code for causing the computing device to display the marking (500) of the biopsy site on the diagnostic images using a shape corresponding to a biopsy sample obtained by the biopsy needle.

15. A biopsy system comprising:

an imaging system (190) for obtaining diagnostic images of a target region (200);

a tracking system (100);

a probe (75) having a deployable biopsy needle for performing a biopsy procedure, wherein the tracking system generates tracking information for at least one of the probe and the biopsy needle;

an ultrasound imaging system (50) for obtaining ultrasound imaging of the target region; and

a computer (150) in communication with the tracking system, the imaging system and the ultrasound imaging system,

wherein the computer registers the tracking system with the imaging system, and

wherein the computer transfers a marking (500) of a biopsy site associated with the biopsy procedure from the ultrasound imaging to the diagnostic images based on the tracking information and the registration of the tracking system with the diagnostic images.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the tracking system (100) is an electromagnetic tracking system, and wherein at least one of the biopsy needle and the probe (75) comprises one or more electromagnetic sensors (80).

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the probe is a trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS) probe (75) having a needle guide for deploying the biopsy needle, and wherein the ultrasound imaging is obtained using the TRUS probe.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer (150) retrieves the marking (500) of the biopsy site in real-time.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the imaging system (190) is one of a magnetic resonance imaging system, a computed tomography system, a contrast ultrasound system, a positron emission tomography system, and a single photon emission computed tomography system.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer (150) generates a map distribution comprising marked biopsy sites (500) for a plurality of patients (20).