MRI-guided interventional systems that can track and generate dynamic visualizations of flexible intrabody devices in near real time
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A circuit for an MRI-guided cardiac interventional system, comprising:
- at least one processor configured to;
(a) generate near real time (RT) MRI images of at least a portion of a heart of a patient using relevant anatomical scan planes associated with a 3-D MRI image space having a coordinate system;
(b) identify coordinates in the 3-D MRI image space coordinate system associated with a location of at least a distal end portion of at least one flexible intrabody catheter in the 3-D MRI image space using tracking coil data from a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart tracking coils on the distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter; and
(c) render interactive near RT visualizations with MR image data and at least the distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter shown with a three-dimensional physical representation; and
at least one display in communication with the at least one processor configured to display the rendered interactive near RT visualizations,wherein the at least one processor is configured to direct an MRI scanner to generate a tracking sequence and an imaging sequence, the imaging sequence using the anatomical scan planes used to generate the near RT MRI images, wherein the tracking sequence is carried out independent of the imaging sequence, wherein the tracking sequence generates X, Y, Z coordinates of the tracking coils of the distal end portion of the flexible catheter from signals from different MR scanner channels associated with coaxial cables from the tracking coils of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter which, during operation, are connected to the different channels of the MR scanner, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the three dimensional physical representation of at least the distal end of the flexible catheter showing orientation and shape using the X, Y and Z coordinates of the tracking coils and pre-defined information of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter including a distance to a tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter from one or more of the tracking coils and a spatial relationship of the tracking coils to select relevant anatomical scan planes for the near RT MRI images that can include scan volumes that exclude the catheter, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a location in the 3-D MRI image space coordinate system associated with the tip and/or distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter using the tracking coil data to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes,wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a catheter-tissue interface location proximate the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter in the 3-D MRI image space using the X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the catheter tissue interface location a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter, and wherein the calculated catheter-tissue interface is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
MRI guided cardiac interventional systems are configured to generate dynamic (interactive) visualizations of patient anatomy and medical devices during an MRI-guided procedure and may also include at least one user selectable 3-D volumetric (tissue characterization) map of target anatomy, e.g., a defined portion of the heart.
-
Citations
75 Claims
-
1. A circuit for an MRI-guided cardiac interventional system, comprising:
-
at least one processor configured to;
(a) generate near real time (RT) MRI images of at least a portion of a heart of a patient using relevant anatomical scan planes associated with a 3-D MRI image space having a coordinate system;
(b) identify coordinates in the 3-D MRI image space coordinate system associated with a location of at least a distal end portion of at least one flexible intrabody catheter in the 3-D MRI image space using tracking coil data from a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart tracking coils on the distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter; and
(c) render interactive near RT visualizations with MR image data and at least the distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter shown with a three-dimensional physical representation; andat least one display in communication with the at least one processor configured to display the rendered interactive near RT visualizations, wherein the at least one processor is configured to direct an MRI scanner to generate a tracking sequence and an imaging sequence, the imaging sequence using the anatomical scan planes used to generate the near RT MRI images, wherein the tracking sequence is carried out independent of the imaging sequence, wherein the tracking sequence generates X, Y, Z coordinates of the tracking coils of the distal end portion of the flexible catheter from signals from different MR scanner channels associated with coaxial cables from the tracking coils of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter which, during operation, are connected to the different channels of the MR scanner, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the three dimensional physical representation of at least the distal end of the flexible catheter showing orientation and shape using the X, Y and Z coordinates of the tracking coils and pre-defined information of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter including a distance to a tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter from one or more of the tracking coils and a spatial relationship of the tracking coils to select relevant anatomical scan planes for the near RT MRI images that can include scan volumes that exclude the catheter, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a location in the 3-D MRI image space coordinate system associated with the tip and/or distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter using the tracking coil data to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a catheter-tissue interface location proximate the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter in the 3-D MRI image space using the X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the catheter tissue interface location a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter, and wherein the calculated catheter-tissue interface is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils. - 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, 25, 26)
-
-
27. An MRI guided system, comprising:
-
an MRI Scanner; at least one flexible intrabody medical device configured to be introduced into a patient via a tortuous and/or natural lumen path, the at least one flexible intrabody medical device having tracking coils that are connected to channels of the MRI Scanner; a circuit comprising at least one processor adapted to communicate with and/or reside in the MRI Scanner, the circuit configured to;
(a) obtain MR image data and generate a series of near real time (RT) MRI images of target anatomy of a patient during a surgical procedure using relevant anatomical scan planes associated with a 3-D MRI image space of the MRI Scanner, the 3-D MRI image space having a coordinate system;
(b) identify a location of at least a distal end portion of the flexible intrabody medical device in the coordinate system of the 3-D MRI image space using tracking coil signal data from the tracking coils; and
(c) render near RT interactive visualizations of the at least one flexible medical device in the 3-D image space with near RT image data of target patient anatomical structure and a registered pre-acquired first volumetric model of the target anatomical structure of the patient, wherein the circuit illustrates the at least one flexible medical device with a three-dimensional physical representation in the visualizations; anda display with a User Interface in communication with the circuit configured to display the visualizations during an MRI guided interventional procedure, wherein the User Interface is configured to allow a user to (a) rotate the visualizations and (b) alter a displayed visualization to include only a near RT image of target anatomy, to include the near RT image of the target anatomy and the registered model of the anatomical structure, or to include only the registered first volumetric model of the target anatomical structure, wherein the MRI Scanner is configured to interleave signal acquisition of image data with signal acquisition of tracking coil signals from the tracking coils, and wherein the circuit is configured to (i) electronically track the at least one flexible intrabody medical device in the 3-D MRI image space using the tracking coil signals independent of scan planes used to obtain the MR image data and to (ii) calculate a location in the 3-D MRI image space of a medical device-tissue interface associated with a tip and/or distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody medical device to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes, wherein the circuit is configured to calculate the location of the medical device-tissue interface using X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils and a known spatial relationship of the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the location of the device-tissue interface a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody medical device, and wherein the calculated medical device-tissue interface is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
-
-
46. An MRI guided cardiac intervention system, comprising:
-
an MR Scanner having a plurality of channels; a plurality of flexible intrabody catheters, each having a plurality of tracking coils, each tracking coil of each flexible intrabody catheter connected to a different MR Scanner channel; and at least one display in communication with the MR Scanner, wherein the MR Scanner includes at least one circuit with at least one processor that is configured to;
(a) generate near real time (RT) MRI images of at least a portion of a heart of a patient shown on the at least one display using relevant anatomical scan planes associated with a 3-D MRI image space having a coordinate system;
(b) identify a location of at least a distal portion of the flexible intrabody catheters in the 3-D MRI image space using tracking coil signal data in the MRI image space coordinate system;
(c) render dynamic near RT visualizations with physical three-dimensional representations of the flexible intrabody catheters in the 3-D image space with respect to a volumetric pre-acquired model of the patient'"'"'s heart registered to the imaging space with the near RT MRI images shown on the at least one display, and (d) calculate a location in the 3-D MRI image space of a catheter-tissue interface associated with a tip and/or distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes,wherein the at least one circuit is configured to calculate the location of the catheter-tissue interface proximate the tip of one or more of the flexible intrabody catheters in the 3-D MRI image space using X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the location of catheter-tissue interface a distance of between about 0-5mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of one or more of the flexible intrabody catheters, and wherein the calculated catheter-tissue interface location is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
-
-
54. A method for performing an MRI-guided procedure, comprising:
-
introducing a flexible intrabody medical device into a natural lumen or cavity of a patient during an MRI-guided procedure; electronically obtaining tracking signals from tracking coils connected to channels of an MR Scanner and attached to the flexible intrabody medical device during the MRI-guided procedure, wherein the flexible intrabody medical device has a distal end portion that can take on a non-linear shape as it moves into position in the patient'"'"'s body; electronically identifying X, Y, Z coordinate locations in 3-D MRI image space of each of the tracking coils using the tracking signals; obtaining near RT MR image data of target anatomy of the patient during the MRI-guided procedure; obtaining a pre-acquired 3-D volumetric model of the target anatomy of the patient and registering the model to the 3-D image space; generating and displaying, using at least one processor, visualizations of the flexible intrabody medical device showing;
(i) the 3-D volumetric model of the patient'"'"'s target anatomy;
(ii) a three dimensional physical representation of at least a distal end portion of the flexible intrabody medical device using the identified locations of the tracking coils, known spatial relationship between the tracking coils and dimensional characteristics of the distal end portion of the flexible intrabody medical device; and
(iii) the near RT MR image data;electronically calculating a device-tissue interface location proximate a tip of the flexible intrabody medical device in the 3-D image space using the identified coordinate locations of the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the device-tissue interface location a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the distal tip of the flexible intrabody device, and wherein the calculated device-tissue interface is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils; and automatically defining at least one scan plane used for the obtaining step to obtain the MR image data for the near RT images during and/or proximate in time to delivery of a therapeutic treatment and/or a diagnostic procedure using the calculated device-tissue interface location. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
-
-
60. A computer program product for facilitating an MRI-guided interventional therapy in a patient, the computer program product comprising:
-
a computer readable non-transitory storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code configured to; direct an MRI Scanner to obtain in an interleaved manner (a) tracking signal data from tracking coils associated with an intrabody flexible device and (b) MR image data, both in the same 3-D MRI image space with a coordinate system; generate near real time (RT) MRI images of at least a portion of target anatomy of a patient using relevant anatomical scan planes; identify spatial coordinates associated with a location of at least a distal end portion of the intrabody flexible device in the 3-D MRI image space using the tracking signal data; render dynamic near RT three-dimensional visualizations of the intrabody flexible device in the 3-D image space with near RT MRI images; and calculate a location in the 3-D MRI image space of a device tissue interface associated with a tip and/or distal end portion of the intrabody flexible device to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes wherein the distal end portion of the intrabody flexible device can vary in shape during the MRI-guided procedure, and wherein the computer readable program code that calculates the location is configured to use X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils and known spacing of the tracking coils to place the location of device-tissue interface a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of the intrabody flexible device, and wherein the calculated device-tissue interface location is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
-
-
66. A cardiac interventional system, comprising:
-
a display; an MRI Scanner; at least one processor in communication with the display and adapted to communicate with the MRI Scanner for; (a) generating near real time (RT) MRI images of at least a portion of a heart of a patient using relevant anatomical scan planes associated with a 3-D MRI image space having a coordinate system; (b) identifying X, Y, Z coordinates in the same 3-D MRI image space associated with a location of at least a distal end portion of at least one flexible intrabody catheter using tracking coil signal data from tracking coils held by the at least one flexible intrabody catheter; (c) rendering dynamic near RT visualizations of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter in the 3-D image space; (d) calculating a location in the 3-D MRI image space of a catheter-tissue interface associated with a tip and/or distal end portion of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter to identify at least one of the relevant anatomical scan planes, wherein calculating the location of the catheter-tissue interface is carried out using the X, Y, Z coordinates of locations of the tracking coils and known spatial spacing between the tracking coils, wherein the calculation is carried out to place the interface location a distance of between about 0-5 mm beyond a calculated location of the tip of the at least one flexible intrabody catheter, and wherein the calculated interface is either (a) calculated to be tangent and substantially in-line with at least two of the tracking coils or (b) calculated as a plane in the 3-D MRI image space proximate a projected plane defined by at least three points associated with three different ones of the tracking coils; (e) displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) containing at least one of the visualizations within or on the display; and (f) selectively altering the visualizations by a user using the GUI to show different volumetric patient-specific tissue maps. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
-
Specification