Needle length determination and calibration for insertion guidance system

摘要

A guidance system for assisting with the insertion of a needle or other medical component into the body of a patient is disclosed. The guidance system utilizes ultrasound imaging or other suitable imaging technology. In one embodiment, the guidance system comprises an imaging device including a probe for producing an image of an internal body portion target, such as a vessel. One or more sensors are included with the probe. The sensors sense a detectable characteristic related to the needle, such as a magnetic field of a magnet included with the needle. The system includes a processor that uses data relating to the detectable characteristic sensed by the sensors to determine a position and/or orientation of the needle in three spatial dimensions. In yet another embodiment, systems and methods for determining the length of the needle to be guided by the guidance system are disclosed.

主权项

1. A method for placing a medical component using an ultrasound imaging system, the ultrasound imagine system including an ultrasound probe having a plurality of magnetic sensors, the medical component including a magnetic element, the method comprising:
positioning the medical component in a predetermined orientation with respect to the ultrasound probe such that a first angle is defined between the medical component and the ultrasound probe; detecting a magnetic field of the magnetic element by the plurality of magnetic sensors in order to generate magnetic field strength data; determining a position of the magnetic element relative to the magnetic sensors in two spatial dimensions using the magnetic field strength data; calculating a length of the medical component using the first angle and the determined two-dimensional position; and depicting on a display a position of the medical component with respect to an ultrasound image produced by the ultrasound imaging system based on the calculated length of the medical component.