Surgical navigation system with a trackable ultrasound catheter

摘要

A surgical navigation system including an ultrasound catheter is disclosed herein. The ultrasound catheter includes a flexible catheter housing defining a distal end, a transducer array disposed at least partially within the catheter housing, and a motor coupled with the transducer array. The motor is configured to rotate the transducer array in order to image a three-dimensional volume. The ultrasound catheter also includes a tracking element adapted to provide an estimate of a position and/or orientation of the distal end of the catheter housing. The tracking element is disposed within the catheter housing and immediately adjacent to the distal end.

主权项

1. An ultrasound catheter comprising:
a flexible catheter housing defining a proximal end and a distal tip; a transducer array disposed at least partially within the flexible catheter housing; a motor positioned in the flexible catheter housing and coupled with the transducer array, said motor being configured to rotate the transducer array in order to image a three-dimensional volume; a first tracking element adapted to provide an estimate of a position and/or orientation of the distal tip of the flexible catheter housing, said first tracking element confined to the distal tip of the flexible catheter housing and immediately adjacent to the distal tip such that there are no other components disposed between the first tracking element and the distal tip so as to track the position and/or orientation of the distal tip with a high degree of precision despite catheter flex; and a second tracking element disposed within the flexible catheter housing in close proximity to the motor, said second tracking element configured to record a noise signal produced by the motor such that the recorded noise signal can be used to improve the position and/or orientation estimate of the digital tip.