Hybrid approach to distortion detection

A method for displaying a medical device location within a patient using a hybrid magnetic and impedance tracking system, the method comprising:

• receiving drive patch location data;
• receiving magnetic sensor location data;
• displaying the medical device location in a hybrid tracking mode based on a combination of data from the drive patch location data and the magnetic sensor location data;
• comparing the drive patch location data to the magnetic sensor location data to detect a magnetic field distortion;
• notifying a physician of the detected magnetic field distortion, wherein notifying includes one or more of preventing the display of the medical device location and alerting the physician of the detected magnetic field distortion.

A system for displaying a medical device location in a hybrid magnetic and impedance tracking system, the system comprising:

• an impedance localization system including one or more patches;
• a magnetic localization system configured to generate a magnetic field;
• one or more magnetic sensors coupled to the one or more patches and configured to receive signals from the magnetic localization system;
• an electronic control unit configured to receive patch location data from the impedance localization system and magnetic sensor location data from the magnetic localization system, wherein the electronic control unit is configured to output a location of the medical device within the patient;
• and
• a display for presenting the location of the medical device within the patient,
• wherein the electronic control unit outputs the location of the medical device while disregarding information from the magnetic localization system when the electronic control unit detects magnetic field distortion.