SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF POSITION AND MOVEMENT DETECTION FOR UROLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

• US 20130184567A1
• Filed: 07/16/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Original Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Inventors: XIE, HUIKAI, LIN, JENSHAN, YU, XIAOGANG, SUN, HONGZHI
• Application Number:
  US13/550,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20130184567A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/424
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/028 Microscale sensors, e.g. electromechanical sensors [MEMS]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/065 Determining position of the probe employing exclusively positioning means located on or in the probe, e.g. using position sensors arranged on the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/20 for measuring urological functions restricted to the evaluation of the urinary system A61B5/4375 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods of detecting position and movement of the bladder and urethra are provided. In one embodiment, a system is provided including a flexible tube, or catheter, with one or more MEMS sensors and an RF antenna embedded thereon; and an RF receiver located external to the flexible tube. The sensors in the flexible tube can be connected to external electronics, which are in turn connected to a computing device. The MEMS sensors provide motion detection and the RF sensors provide position/distance detection. The MEMS sensors can include, but are not limited to, one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, stress sensors, tilt sensors, and/or pressure sensors. In operation, the flexible tube is inserted into the bladder through the urethra to detect the location of the bladder neck and track the motion and/or shape of the urethra. The results of the tracking can be provided on a display.

Claims

1. A system for urological diagnostics and treatment, the system comprising:

a flexible tube or catheter;

a plurality of MEMS sensors in the flexible tube or catheter to provide tracking of the flexible tube or catheter, wherein the MEMS sensors of the plurality of MEMS sensors are spaced apart from each other along the length of the flexible tube or catheter by a pitch providing sufficient data points while maintaining flexibility of the flexible tube or catheter; and

a wiring connected to the plurality of MEMS sensors for providing power to and signals from the plurality of MEMS sensors.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors comprises at least one sensor type from the group consisting of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, and a stress sensor.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the pitch is about 1 cm.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors comprises between 3 and 20 MEMS sensors.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause a processor to process the signals from the plurality of MEMS sensors in order to track the flexible tube or catheter.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the coordinates of the MEMS sensors along the flexible tube or catheter are given as:

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to output an image of the determined shape of the flexible tube or catheter to a display.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the wiring comprises insulated copper wires connecting the MEMS sensors to an external from the flexible tube or catheter.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the wiring is provided by a flexible PCB on which the plurality of MEMS sensors are disposed.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein a MEMS chip of the plurality of MEMS sensors is oriented parallel to a length direction of the flexible tube or catheter.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein a MEMS chip of the plurality of MEMS sensors is oriented perpendicular to a length direction of the flexible tube or catheter.

12. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a transmitting (TX) antenna in the flexible tube or catheter, wherein the TX antenna transmits a TX signal;

a receiving (RX) antenna external to the flexible tube or catheter for being positioned at a location on a patient, wherein the RX antenna receives the TX signal and outputs an RX signal;

a phase shifter and amplifier providing a quadrature shifted reference local oscillator (LO) signal by phase shifting and amplifying the TX signal; and

a mixer mixing the RX signal and the LO signal to output an output signal including a DC voltage proportional to a phase shift between the LO signal and the RX signal, the output signal providing positioning information of the flexible tube or catheter.

13. The system according to claim 1, further comprising one or more accelerometers and/or one or more gyroscopes external to the flexible tube or catheter for placement on a patient to determine body motion of the patient in which the flexible tube or catheter is inserted.

14. The positioning system according to claim 1, further comprising one or more accelerometers and/or one or more gyroscopes for implantation in a patient to determine body motion of the patient in which the flexible tube or catheter is inserted.

15. A system for urological diagnostics and treatment, the system comprising:

a flexible tube or catheter;

a transmitting (TX) antenna in the flexible tube or catheter, wherein the TX antenna transmits a TX signal;

a receiving (RX) antenna external to the flexible tube or catheter for being positioned at a location on a patient, wherein the RX antenna receives the TX signal and outputs an RX signal;

a phase shifter and amplifier providing a quadrature shifted reference local oscillator (LO) signal by phase shifting and amplifying the TX signal; and

a mixer mixing the RX signal and the LO signal to output an output signal including a DC voltage proportional to a phase shift between the LO signal and the RX signal, the output signal providing positioning information of the flexible tube or catheter.

16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising:

an active filter amplifier low pass filtering and amplifying the output signal of the mixer;

an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) receiving an output of the active filter amplifier and converting the output of the active filter amplifier to a digital signal; and

a data acquisition module receiving the digital signal from the ADC for performing analysis of the digital signal and determining a measured voltage.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein a distance d between the TX antenna and the RX antenna in a linear coupling region is calculated via a processor of the data acquisition module as

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the measured voltage V_M is given as

19. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a saturation amplifier between the RX antenna and the mixer for amplifying the received RF signal to a power supply rail, wherein the measured voltage V_M is given as

V_M=c·

cos(φ

₀+Δ

_φ

)≈

c·

Δ

_φ

, where Δ

_φ

is a phase shift introduced by coupling between the TX antenna and the RX antenna, and c is a constant determined by each gain stage in the system.

20. The system according to claim 15, further comprising;

a plurality of MEMS sensors in the flexible tube or catheter; and

a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause the processor to determine a position and shape of the flexible tube or catheter using output signals of the plurality of MEMS sensors, position coordinate information of each of the plurality of MEMS sensors, and the output signal from the mixer.