Guide and position monitor for invasive medical instrument
First Claim
1. An apparatus for coupling an invasive medical instrument to an imaging probe, the imaging probe having a substantially planar scanning field, comprising;
- a substantially rigid first link member that hingeably couples to the imaging probe such that relative movement of said first link member and the imaging probe is restricted around a first hinge axis substantially perpendicular to the scanning field plane;
a substantially rigid second link member that hingeably couples to the medical instrument such that relative movement of said second link member and the medical instrument is restricted around a second hinge axis substantially perpendicular to the scanning field plane; and
at least one substantially rigid intermediate link member hingeably coupled in a serial manner between said first and second link members, said apparatus substantially confining movement of the medical instrument to the scanning field plane while permitting movement of the medical instrument within that plane from a first orientation parallel to an axis of the imaging probe to a second orientation perpendicular to the axis of the imaging probe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An instrument guide is described for mounting an invasive instrument such as a biopsy needle to an imaging probe, controlling its position, monitoring its position, and/or predictively displaying its position on a user display of the medical imaging system. A plurality of substantially rigid segments are hingeably connected to the probe, to an instrument handle, and to each other such that movement of the biopsy needle is restricted to within the imaged plane. However, substantial freedom of movement within the imaged plane is provided such that the instrument may be inserted into the patient over a wide range of angles. In one preferred embodiment, angle detectors are provided at each segment intersection and measurements provided for computing and displaying the instrument position and orientation on the user display. The instrument guide/position monitor is preferably made with low-cost components such that it is disposable after a single use. A predictive user display is provided in which the throw of a spring-loaded instrument is shown on the user display, the throw corresponding to the space that the instrument will occupy after a spring trigger is activated.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. An apparatus for coupling an invasive medical instrument to an imaging probe, the imaging probe having a substantially planar scanning field, comprising;
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a substantially rigid first link member that hingeably couples to the imaging probe such that relative movement of said first link member and the imaging probe is restricted around a first hinge axis substantially perpendicular to the scanning field plane;
a substantially rigid second link member that hingeably couples to the medical instrument such that relative movement of said second link member and the medical instrument is restricted around a second hinge axis substantially perpendicular to the scanning field plane; and
at least one substantially rigid intermediate link member hingeably coupled in a serial manner between said first and second link members, said apparatus substantially confining movement of the medical instrument to the scanning field plane while permitting movement of the medical instrument within that plane from a first orientation parallel to an axis of the imaging probe to a second orientation perpendicular to the axis of the imaging probe. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 48)
computer code for receiving said current angles;
computer code for computing a current position of the medical instrument relative to the imaging probe using said current angles; and
computer code for displaying a representation of the medical instrument on the user display for locations of overlap between the imaged portion and the medical instrument.
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20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising computer code for predictively projecting the medical instrument onto the imaged portion based on the current position and orientation of the medical instrument relative to the imaging probe.
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48. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the number of intermediate link members is three.
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21. A biopsy guide for use in controlling the position of a biopsy needle relative to an ultrasound probe during an ultrasound-assisted biopsy procedure, the ultrasound probe scanning a patient along an imaged plane, comprising:
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a first connector for fixable attachment to the ultrasound probe;
a second connector for fixable attachment to a handle of the biopsy needle; and
a link assembly comprising at least three substantially rigid members hingeably connected to each other, said link assembly being hingeably connected to said first connector at one end and hingeably connected to said second connector at another end such that movement of the biopsy needle is substantially restricted to the imaged plane. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
computer code for receiving said current angles;
computer code for computing a current position of the biopsy needle relative to the ultrasound probe using said current angles; and
computer code for displaying a representation of the biopsy needle on the user display for locations of overlap between the imaged plane and the biopsy needle.
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36. The biopsy guide of claim 35, further comprising computer code for predictively projecting the biopsy needle onto the user display based on the current position and orientation of the biopsy needle relative to the ultrasound probe.
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37. An apparatus for use in an ultrasound-guided biopsy procedure in which a biopsy needle is inserted into a patient while an ultrasound probe scans the patient along an imaged plane, comprising:
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a link assembly comprising a plurality of substantially rigid link members, said link assembly being configured for hingeable attachment to the ultrasound probe at one end and for hingeable attachment to the biopsy needle at the other end such that movement of the biopsy needle is restricted to the imaged plane; and
a plurality of position encoders respectively positioned at each interface between adjacent ones of said link members, between a first of said link members and the ultrasound probe, and between a last of said link members and the biopsy needle for detecting and providing relative position information such that a current position of the biopsy needle relative to the ultrasound probe can be computed. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
computer code for receiving said relative position information;
computer code for computing said current position of the biopsy needle relative to the ultrasound probe using said relative position information; and
computer code for displaying a representation of the biopsy needle on the user display for locations of overlap between the imaged plane and the biopsy needle.
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40. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising computer code for predictively projecting the biopsy needle onto the user display based on the current position and orientation of the biopsy needle relative to the ultrasound probe.
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41. The apparatus of claim 37, said link members being hingeably attached to each other, said position encoders between said link members being angle detectors.
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42. The apparatus of claim 41, said link assembly comprising at least four link members, said link assembly being configured and dimensioned such that the biopsy needle selectively moves within the imaged plane from a first orientation parallel to an axis of the ultrasound probe to a second orientation perpendicular to the axis of the imaging probe.
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43. The apparatus of claim 42, said link assembly comprising at least five link members configured and dimensioned such that the biopsy needle selectively enters a patient up to 10 cm away from the ultrasound probe at any angle between said first and second orientations within the imaged plane.
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44. The apparatus of claim 42, said link assembly being configured and dimensioned such that the biopsy needle selectively moves within the imaged plane up to a third orientation 180 degrees from the axis of the imaging probe.
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45. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein each link member comprises a rigid plastic material and is hingeably coupled to adjacent link members by a pin-in-slot hinge.
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46. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein each link member comprises a rigid plastic material, and wherein adjacent link members are hingeably coupled using living hinges.
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47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein said link members are formed from a common sheet of low-cost plastic material into which grooves are cut to form said living hinges, whereby said biopsy guide is low-cost and disposable.
Specification