Method of catheter tracking using image information
First Claim
1. A method of tracking a position of an imaging head of a catheter in three-dimensional space within a human body, the method comprising:
- receiving a first image captured by the catheter, wherein the first image is in a first image plane;
receiving a second image captured by the catheter, wherein the second image is in a second image plane, wherein the first and second image planes are non-parallel to each other;
for each of a plurality of first data locations situated along a first line in the first image and a plurality of corresponding second data locations situated along a corresponding second line in the second image, determining differences in an image property between the first data locations in the first image and the corresponding second data locations in the second image along a first direction along the first and second lines, wherein the corresponding second line is a projection of the first line onto the second image;
determining first correlation loss data from the determined differences in the image property between the first image and the second image along the first direction;
determining a first angle of separation, along the first direction, between the first image plane and the second image plane using the first correlation loss data; and
outputting the first angle of separation.
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Abstract
An improved method of tracking a catheter'"'"'s position within a human body does not rely on x-rays, but instead calculates the position of the catheter'"'"'s imaging head by analyzing image data. Such an analysis is able to determine the position of the imaging head in 3 dimensional space, relative to an arbitrarily selected reference image. An image is compared with the reference image, correlation data between corresponding points on the two images are gathered, and a correlation loss rate in a particular direction is determined. This correlation loss rate is modeled to an exponential function, which is evaluated to estimate an angle of separation between the image and the reference image. One or more angles of separation are used to determine a position in three dimensional space of the image, relative to the reference image. By repeating this process for a series of images being gathered by a catheter, the position of the catheter can be determined. Additionally, a 3 dimensional map of lumens in the human body can be created.
26 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of tracking a position of an imaging head of a catheter in three-dimensional space within a human body, the method comprising:
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receiving a first image captured by the catheter, wherein the first image is in a first image plane; receiving a second image captured by the catheter, wherein the second image is in a second image plane, wherein the first and second image planes are non-parallel to each other; for each of a plurality of first data locations situated along a first line in the first image and a plurality of corresponding second data locations situated along a corresponding second line in the second image, determining differences in an image property between the first data locations in the first image and the corresponding second data locations in the second image along a first direction along the first and second lines, wherein the corresponding second line is a projection of the first line onto the second image; determining first correlation loss data from the determined differences in the image property between the first image and the second image along the first direction; determining a first angle of separation, along the first direction, between the first image plane and the second image plane using the first correlation loss data; and
outputting the first angle of separation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of tracking a position of an imaging head of a catheter in three-dimensional space within a human body, the method comprising:
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receiving a first image captured by the catheter, wherein the first image is in a first image plane; receiving a second image captured by the catheter, wherein the second image is in a second image plane, wherein the first and second image planes are non-parallel to each other; determining, for each of a plurality of first data locations in the first image, differences in an image property between the first data locations in the first image and the corresponding second data locations in the second image along a first direction, wherein the plurality of first data locations are situated along a first line in the first image and the corresponding second data locations are situated along a corresponding second line in the second image, wherein the corresponding second line is a projection of the first line onto the second image; determining a first rate of correlation loss between the first and second images along the first direction using the determined differences in the image property between the first image and the second image; determining a first angle of separation, along the first direction, between the first image plane and the second image plane using the first rate of correlation loss; determining first position data for the second image, relative to the first image, using the first angle of separation; and outputting the first position data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions, the processor-executable instructions when installed onto a system enable the system to perform actions, the actions comprising:
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receiving a first image captured by a catheter, wherein the first image is in a first image plane; receiving a second image captured by the catheter, wherein the second image is in a second image plane, wherein the first and second image planes are non-parallel to each other; for each of a plurality of first data locations situated along a first line in the first image and a plurality of corresponding second data locations situated along a corresponding second line in the second image, determining differences in an image property between the first data locations in the first image and the corresponding second data locations in the second image along a first direction along the first and second lines, wherein the corresponding second line is a projection of the first line onto the second image; determining first correlation loss data from the determined differences in the image property between the first image and the second image along the first direction; determining a first angle of separation, along the first direction, between the first image plane and the second image plane using the first correlation loss data; and outputting the first angle of separation.
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Specification