Method of analyzing hollow anatomical structures for percutaneous implantation

A method of analyzing a hollow anatomical structure of interest in a patient's body for percutaneous implantation, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring a model of an anatomical region of interest that at least partially includes the anatomical structure of interest, wherein the model of the anatomical region of interest is a first model and is generated from image data relating to the anatomical region of interest;
• obtaining one or more images of the anatomical structure of interest by sectioning out intervening anatomical structures from the first model, wherein sectioning out intervening anatomical structures comprises removing from the first model one or more portions thereof containing the intervening anatomical structures;
• acquiring data relating to the anatomical structure of interest from the one or more images of the anatomical structure of interest;
• determining a size of an implant to be implanted into the anatomical structure of interest based on the acquired data;
• identifying a point of access into the patient's body for percutaneous implantation of the implant;
• displaying a visual representation of the identified point of access on a model of the patient's body that includes a representation of the outer surface of the patient's body, wherein the model of the patient's body is a second model;
• and
• removing from the second model, one or more layers of the second model each corresponding to a respective anatomical structure disposed between the outer surface of the patient's body and the anatomical structure of interest, and following the removal of each of the one or more layers, determining whether the identified point of access intersects one or more anatomical structures disposed between the outer surface of the patient's body and the anatomical structure of interest based on the displayed visual representation of the identified point of access, wherein the visual representation of the identified point of access remains displayed on the second model as each of the one or more layers of the second model is removed from the second model.

A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that when executed by one or more electronic processors causes the one or more processors to carry out the method of:

• acquiring a model of an anatomical region of interest in a patient's body that includes the anatomical structure of interest, wherein the model of the anatomical region of interest is a first model and is generated from image data relating to the anatomical region of interest;
• obtaining one or more images of the anatomical structure of interest by sectioning out intervening anatomical structures from the first model, wherein sectioning out intervening anatomical structures comprises removing from the first model one or more portions thereof containing the intervening anatomical structures;
• acquiring data relating to the anatomical structure of interest;
• determining a size of an implant to be implanted into the anatomical structure of interest based on the acquired data;
• identifying a point of access into the patient's body for percutaneous implantation of the implant;
• displaying a visual representation of the identified point of access on a model of the patient's body that includes a representation of the outer surface of the patient's body, wherein the model of the patient's body is a second model;
• and
• removing from the second model, one or more layers of the second model each corresponding to a respective anatomical structure disposed between the outer surface of the patient's body and the anatomical structure of interest, and following the removal of each of the one or more layers, determining whether the identified point of access intersects one or more anatomical structures disposed between the outer surface of the patient's body and the anatomical structure of interest based on the displayed visual representation of the identified point of access, wherein the visual representation of the identified point of access remains displayed on the second model as each of the one or more layers of the second model is removed from the second model.