Method and apparatus using shaped field of repositionable magnet to guide implant
First Claim
1. A device for navigating a surgical, diagnostic, or therapeutic object in a patient'"'"'s body, the device comprising:
- a) an external magnet mounted on a gantry having an adjustable attitude;
b) a magnetic seed configured for implanting in a patient'"'"'s body; and
c) an imaging system configured to display a medical image of the magnetic seed implanted in a patient'"'"'s body and to superimpose thereon a representation of magnetic field lines of the external magnet, including those representing a near field, the superimposition being dependent upon an orientation and location of the external magnet.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for displaying and using a shaped field of a repositionable magnet to move, guide, and/or steer a magnetic seed or catheter in living tissue for medicinal purposes. A moveable magnet assembly and a portion of a patient'"'"'s body undergoing magnetically-aided surgery are both provided with fiducial markers. The portion of the patient'"'"'s body is fixed in a location in which the fiducial markers are sensed and located by a set of localizers. The positions of the fiducial markers are determined by a processor, which operates on a stored representation of the magnetic field of a magnet in the magnet assembly to provide a display of the present magnetic field of the magnet. This display may be superimposed over an MRI, X-ray or CAT image during surgery. The repositionable magnet can be an electromagnet. In some embodiments, a computer calculates orientations and currents for an external electromagnet to move the implanted magnetic object in the patient'"'"'s body through a desired path. The display can provide real-time imaging of the implanted magnetic object in comparison to the desired path as the object is moved.
336 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A device for navigating a surgical, diagnostic, or therapeutic object in a patient'"'"'s body, the device comprising:
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a) an external magnet mounted on a gantry having an adjustable attitude;
b) a magnetic seed configured for implanting in a patient'"'"'s body; and
c) an imaging system configured to display a medical image of the magnetic seed implanted in a patient'"'"'s body and to superimpose thereon a representation of magnetic field lines of the external magnet, including those representing a near field, the superimposition being dependent upon an orientation and location of the external magnet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of magnetic surgery comprising the steps of:
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(a) implanting a magnetic seed in a patient'"'"'s body;
(b) imaging a region of the patient'"'"'s body including the implanted seed to thereby produce a medical image;
(c) superimposing on the medical image a representation of a set of magnetic field lines of the external magnet, including those representing a near field, the superimposition being dependent upon an orientation and location of the external magnet;
(d) aligning a portion of the superimposed representation along an intended path of the seed; and
(e) moving the external magnet into a position outside of the patient'"'"'s body to produce the magnetic field represented by the aligned superimposed representation to effect guidance or movement of the seed. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of computer-aided magnetic surgery comprising the steps of:
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(a) implanting a magnetic seed in a patient'"'"'s body;
(b) imaging a region of the patient'"'"'s body including the implanted seed to thereby produce a medical image;
(c) storing information indicative of a path to be taken by the seed in a memory of a computer having a display;
(d) displaying a representation of the path and a current location of the seed on the display;
(e) calculating orientations and currents of an external electromagnet required to provide a magnetic field to the seed to move the seed along the path;
(f) activating a servo-controlled motor to move the external electromagnet to the calculated orientations;
(g) providing the calculated currents to the electromagnet; and
(h) updating the display to provide current locations of the seed relative to the path. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A device for navigating a surgical, diagnostic, or therapeutic object in a patient'"'"'s body, the device comprising:
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a) an external magnet mounted on a gantry having an adjustable attitude;
b) a magnetic seed configured for implanting in a patient'"'"'s body; and
c) a magnetic locating device for determining and displaying a position and orientation of an implanted magnetic seed.
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Specification