Systems and methods for navigation within a branched structure of a body
First Claim
1. 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;
positioning the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body such that a location of the tracking sensor approximately coincides with a location in the structure that corresponds to one of the predetermined points of the pathway that has been designated as a reference point of a model coordinate system in the model frame of reference;
establishing an anchor point for a tracking coordinate system, in a frame of reference of the tracking system, that corresponds to the reference point of the model coordinate system, when the location of the tracking sensor coincides with the predetermined point of the pathway designated as the reference point of the model coordinate system;
advancing the medical instrument along a registration path, within the branched structure, from the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, while simultaneously collecting positional information from the tracking sensor to track a Euclidean distance between the sensor and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, the registration path including a plurality of non-collinear points;
determining if the tracked Euclidean distance between the sensor and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals a corresponding Euclidean distance for each of a plurality of other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system, and the medical instrument being advanced, at least, until the tracked Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals the corresponding Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of other designated predetermined points;
identifying a set of coordinates specifying the position of the tracking sensor, in the tracking coordinate system, where the tracking sensor is located at the equal Euclidean distance for each of the other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system;
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 the corresponding coordinates of the other designated predetermined points of the pathway;
collecting registered sets of coordinates of the tracking sensor while moving the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body; and
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.
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Accused Products
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 using the identified coordinates of the instrument and the corresponding coordinates of each designated point.
88 Citations
32 Claims
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1. 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:
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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; positioning the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body such that a location of the tracking sensor approximately coincides with a location in the structure that corresponds to one of the predetermined points of the pathway that has been designated as a reference point of a model coordinate system in the model frame of reference; establishing an anchor point for a tracking coordinate system, in a frame of reference of the tracking system, that corresponds to the reference point of the model coordinate system, when the location of the tracking sensor coincides with the predetermined point of the pathway designated as the reference point of the model coordinate system; advancing the medical instrument along a registration path, within the branched structure, from the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, while simultaneously collecting positional information from the tracking sensor to track a Euclidean distance between the sensor and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, the registration path including a plurality of non-collinear points; determining if the tracked Euclidean distance between the sensor and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals a corresponding Euclidean distance for each of a plurality of other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system, and the medical instrument being advanced, at least, until the tracked Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals the corresponding Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of other designated predetermined points; identifying a set of coordinates specifying the position of the tracking sensor, in the tracking coordinate system, where the tracking sensor is located at the equal Euclidean distance for each of the other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system; 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 the corresponding coordinates of the other designated predetermined points of the pathway; collecting registered sets of coordinates of the tracking sensor while moving the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body; and 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for registering a coordinate system of a frame of reference of a tracking system to a coordinate system of a frame of reference of a geometrical model, the tracking system collecting information defining a position of a medical instrument, to be navigated in a branched structure of a body, the position with respect to the frame of reference of the tracking system, the geometrical model being defined by data which includes coordinates for predetermined points defining a pathway along branches of the branched structure, and the method comprising:
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positioning the medical instrument within the branched structure of the body such that a location of the instrument approximately coincides with a location in the structure that corresponds to one of the predetermined points of the pathway that has been designated as a reference point of the model coordinate system; establishing an anchor point for the tracking coordinate system that corresponds to the reference point of the model coordinate system, when the location of the instrument coincides with the predetermined point of the pathway designated as the reference point of the model coordinate system; advancing the medical instrument along a registration path, within the branched structure, from the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, while simultaneously collecting positional information from the tracking system to track a Euclidean distance between the instrument and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system, the registration path including a plurality of non-collinear points; determining if the tracked Euclidean distance between the instrument and the anchor point of the tracking coordinate system for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals a corresponding Euclidean distance for each of a plurality of other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system, and the instrument being advanced, at least, until the tracked Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of non-collinear points equals the corresponding Euclidean distance for each of the plurality of other designated predetermined points; identifying a set of coordinates specifying the position of the instrument, in the tracking coordinate system, where the instrument is located at the equal Euclidean distances for each of the other designated predetermined points, of the pathway, from the reference point of the model coordinate system; and 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 instrument and the corresponding coordinates of the other designated predetermined points of the pathway, to register the tracking coordinate system to the model coordinate system. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification