Coil arrangement for an electromagnetic tracking system
First Claim
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1. An electromagnetic tracking system, comprising:
- at least one transmitter assembly with at least one transmitter coil element;
at least one receiver assembly with two receiver coil elements attachable to an object to be tracked, the two receiver coil elements spaced apart from each other and positioned asymmetrically with respect to each other so that an axis of a first receiver coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of a second receiver coil element within the same assembly, the at least one receiver assembly communicating with and receiving signals from the at least one transmitter assembly; and
electronics coupled to and communicating with the at least one transmitter assembly and the at least one receiver assembly for calculating the position and orientation of the object to be tracked.
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Abstract
An electromagnetic tracking system comprising at least one electromagnetic transmitter assembly or at least one electromagnetic receiver assembly with two coils attachable to a trackable object to be tracked. The two coils including a first large coil and a second small coil, with the second small coil positioned asymmetrically with respect to the first large coil. The electromagnetic tracking system enables a medical professional to continually track the position and orientation of the object during a medical procedure.
209 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An electromagnetic tracking system, comprising:
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at least one transmitter assembly with at least one transmitter coil element; at least one receiver assembly with two receiver coil elements attachable to an object to be tracked, the two receiver coil elements spaced apart from each other and positioned asymmetrically with respect to each other so that an axis of a first receiver coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of a second receiver coil element within the same assembly, the at least one receiver assembly communicating with and receiving signals from the at least one transmitter assembly; and electronics coupled to and communicating with the at least one transmitter assembly and the at least one receiver assembly for calculating the position and orientation of the object to be tracked. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An electromagnetic tracking system, comprising:
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at least one transmitter assembly with two transmitter coil elements attachable to an object to be tracked, the two transmitter coil elements spaced apart from each other and positioned asymmetrically with respect to each other so that an axis of a first transmitter coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of a second transmitter coil element within the same assembly; at least one receiver assembly with at least one receiver coil element, the at least one receiver assembly communicating with and receiving signals from the at least one transmitter assembly; and electronics coupled to and communicating with the at least one transmitter assembly and the at least one receiver assembly for calculating the position and orientation of the object to be tracked. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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- 15. A transmitter assembly for an electromagnetic tracking system, comprising a first large coil element spaced apart from a second small coil element, and the second small coil element positioned asymmetrically with respect to the first large coil element so that an axis of the first large coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of the second small coil element.
- 18. A receiver assembly for an electromagnetic tracking system comprising a first large coil element spaced apart from a second small coil element, and the second small coil element positioned asymmetrically with respect to the first large coil element so that an axis of the first large coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of the second small coil element within the same assembly.
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21. A method of maximizing the tracking accuracy of an electromagnetic tracking system, comprising:
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attaching a first large coil element and a second small coil element to an object to be tracked so that an axis of the first large coil element is neither perpendicular to nor parallel with an axis of a second small coil element within the same coil assembly; and determining the position and orientation of the object to be tracked. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification