SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NAVIGATION WITHIN A BRANCHED STRUCTURE OF A BODY

• US 20120283558A1
• Filed: 06/13/2012
• Published: 11/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.
• Inventors: Ganatra, Jenelle M., Tschirren, Juerg, Garber, John T. II
• Granted Patent: US 8,700,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/427
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00809 Lung operations
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/105 Modelling of the patient, e.g. for ligaments or bones
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/252 indicating steps of a surgical procedure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/363 Use of fiducial points
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/364 Correlation of different images or relation of image positions in respect to the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/3954 magnetic, e.g. 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 34/25 User interfaces for surgical systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

A system and method for navigating a medical instrument in a branched structure of a body employs a tracking system, for collecting positional information for the medical instrument, and data, which defines a geometrical model of the branched structure, in particular, coordinates for predetermined points defining a pathway extending along branches of the model. Coordinates are identified for each Euclidean distance of the instrument, from an anchor point of a coordinate system for the tracking system, that corresponds to a Euclidean distance of a designated point, of the predetermined points, from a reference point of a coordinate system for the model, wherein the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system has been established to correspond to the reference point of the model coordinate system. The two coordinate systems are registered to one another via a mathematical transformation using the identified coordinates of the instrument and the corresponding coordinates of each designated point.

Claims

1. A system for navigating a medical instrument within a branched structure of a body, the system comprising:

a tracking system for collecting information defining a position of the medical instrument with respect to a frame of reference of the tracking system; and

a workstation including a database, a processor and a display, the processor coupled to the database and coupled to the tracking system, to receive the positional information therefrom, and the display coupled to the processor;

the database including data, which defines a geometrical model of the branched structure, the data including coordinates for predetermined points, with respect to a model coordinate system in a frame of reference of the model, the predetermined points defining a pathway along branches of the model of the branched structure and including a designated point, serving as a reference point for the model coordinate system, and a plurality of other designated points;

the processor adapted to;

receive input for establishing an anchor point of a coordinate system for the frame of reference of the tracking system, the anchor point corresponding to the first designated point of the pathway;

convert the positional information, collected by the tracking system, into Euclidean distances of the instrument from the established anchor point of the tracking coordinate system;

identify sets of coordinates of the instrument for each Euclidean distance of the instrument from the established anchor point that corresponds to a Euclidean distance of one of the plurality of other designated points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system;

register the tracking coordinate system to the model coordinate system by deriving a mathematical transformation, which relates the model frame of reference to the tracking frame of reference, using the identified sets of coordinates of the instrument and the corresponding coordinates of the plurality of other designated points of the pathway; and

map locations of the instrument to the pathway by continuing to convert positional information for the instrument into Euclidean distances from the established anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, following registration of the tracking coordinate system to the model coordinate system; and

the display adapted to receive data from the database, to display a representation of the model, to receive mapped locations of the instrument, from the processor, and to display the mapped locations of the instrument, on the representation of the model.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface coupled to the processor, the user interface adapted to transmit a notification, from a user of the system, that the instrument is located in the branched structure at a location corresponding to the reference point.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of other designated points comprises a first point located along a first branch of the pathway, a second point located along a second branch of the pathway and a third point located along a third branch of the pathway; and

further comprising a user interface coupled to the processor, the user interface adapted to receive information, from a user of the system, of a sequence in which the instrument will be advanced into each of first, second and third branches of the branched structure, corresponding to the first, second and third branches of the pathway, to facilitate the processor in identifying sets of coordinates of the instrument for each Euclidean distance of the instrument that corresponds to the Euclidean distance of the first, second and third points.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of other designated points comprises a first point located along a first branch of the pathway, a second point located along a second branch of the pathway and a third point located along a third branch of the pathway; and

further comprising pre-programmed instructions for a sequence in which to advance the instrument into each of first, second and third branches of the branched structure, corresponding to the first, second and third branches of the model of the branched structure, to facilitate the processor in identifying sets of coordinates of the instrument for each Euclidean distance of the instrument that corresponds to the Euclidean distance of the first, second and third points, the instructions presented on the display.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the display is further adapted to provide an indicator when the processor has identified the sets of coordinates of the instrument for each Euclidean distance of the instrument that corresponds to a Euclidean distance of the first, second and third points.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the data, which defines the geometrical model of the branched structure, further includes an anatomical identification associated with at least some of the predetermined points of the pathway; and

the display is further adapted to label each of the at least some of the predetermined points according to the associated anatomical identification.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further adapted to measure a time between the mapping of two locations of the instrument to the pathway and to store the measured time.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the display is further adapted to receive the stored time from the processor and to display the time alongside the displayed representation of the model.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further adapted to measure a distance between two locations mapped to the pathway and to store the measured distance.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the display is further adapted to receive the stored distance from the processor and to display the distance as a visual indicator overlaid on the displayed representation of the model.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the display is further adapted to receive the stored distance from the processor and to display the distance as a quantity alongside the displayed representation of the model.

12. A method for navigating a medical instrument within a branched structure of a body, the medical instrument including a tracking sensor attached thereto, the sensor being part of a tracking system, and the method comprising:

providing data, which defines a geometrical model of the branched structure, the data including coordinates for predetermined points, with respect to a frame of reference of the model, the predetermined points defining a pathway, which pathway extends along branches of the model of the structure;

displaying a representation of the model;

sequentially advancing the medical instrument in first, second and third directions, within the branched structure, while simultaneously collecting positional information from the tracking sensor to calculate a trajectory of the sensor in each of the three directions, the medical instrument being advanced in each of the three directions, at least, until the calculated trajectory, in each of the three directions, approximately matches a contour of a portion of the pathway defined by a subset of the predetermined points;

identifying sets of coordinates for the tracking sensor, in the tracking coordinate system, which correspond to each approximately matched trajectory of the sensor;

registering the tracking coordinate system to the model coordinate system by deriving a mathematical transformation, which relates the model frame of reference to the tracking system frame of reference, using the identified sets of coordinates for the tracking sensor and corresponding coordinates of each corresponding subset of predetermined points; and

collecting registered sets of coordinates of the tracking sensor to display a virtual representation of the tracking sensor on the displayed presentation of the model, as the medical instrument is advanced within the branched structure, in order to provide guidance for the navigation of the instrument within the branched structure of the body.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising re-registering the tracking coordinate system to the model coordinate system by:

calculating additional trajectories of the tracking sensor, as the medical instrument is advanced within the branched structure, after registering the tracking coordinate system;

identifying an additional group of sets of coordinates for the tracking sensor, in the tracking coordinate system, for one of the calculated additional trajectories that corresponds to a contour of another portion of the pathway defined by another subset of the predetermined points; and

deriving another mathematical transformation, which relates the model frame of reference to the tracking system frame of reference, using the identified additional group of sets of coordinates for the tracking sensor and the corresponding coordinates of the other subset of the predetermined points.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined points defining the pathway comprise centerline points along the branches of the model of the structure.

15. The method of claim claim 12, wherein collecting the registered sets of coordinates of the tracking sensor comprises mapping the coordinates to a closest point of the predetermined points defining the pathway.

16. A method for navigating a medical instrument within a branched structure of a body, the medical instrument including a tracking sensor attached thereto, the sensor being part of a tracking system, and the method comprising:

providing data, which defines a geometrical model of the branched structure, the data including coordinates for predetermined points, with respect to a frame of reference of the model, the predetermined points defining a pathway, which pathway extends along branches of the model of the structure;

displaying a representation of the model;

registering a tracking coordinate system, in a frame of reference of the tracking system, to a model coordinate system in the frame of reference of the model;

collecting registered sets of coordinates of the tracking sensor, while moving the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body;

displaying, on the displayed presentation of the model, a virtual representation of the tracking sensor corresponding to at least some of the collected registered sets of coordinates, in order to provide navigation guidance for the movement of the instrument;

measuring at least one parameter corresponding to two of the collected registered sets of coordinates, the at least one parameter including one or both of;

a time between the collection of the two registered sets of coordinates and a distance between the two collected registered sets of coordinates; and

storing the measure of the at least one parameter.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising displaying the measure of the at least one parameter.