System and method for displaying the location of a ferromagnetic object in a living organism

A ferromagnetic object location visualization system, wherein:

• the system comprises a probe shaft and a display;
• the probe shaft comprises:
• a probe tip magnetoresistance module located at a distal end of the probe shaft wherein the probe tip magnetoresistance module comprises three orthogonally-oriented probe tip magnetoresistance sensors configured for:
• insertion into a body cavity of a living organism;
• and
• generating three orthogonal probe tip electrical signals in response to an ambient magnetic field in the body cavity on said three orthogonally-oriented probe tip magnetoresistance sensors;
• a probe base magnetoresistance module located at a proximal end of the probe shaft wherein the probe base magnetoresistance module comprises three orthogonally-oriented probe base magnetoresistance sensors configured for:
• remaining outside the body cavity;
• and
• generating three orthogonal probe base electrical signals in response to an ambient magnetic field on said three orthogonally-oriented probe base magnetoresistance sensors;
• and
• the display is configured to show a horizontal, vertical, and depth position of the ferromagnetic object relative to the distal end in a simulated cubic volume in response to:
• the three orthogonal probe tip electrical signals;
• and
• the three orthogonal probe base electrical signals.

A method for visualizing a location of a ferromagnetic object in a body cavity of a living organism, the method comprising the steps of:

• establishing a probe shaft that comprises:
• a probe tip magnetoresistance module comprising three orthogonally-oriented magnetoresistance sensors configured for:
• insertion into the body cavity;
• and
• generating three orthogonal probe tip electrical signals in response to an ambient magnetic field in three orthogonal axes in the body cavity;
• and
• a probe base magnetoresistance module comprising three orthogonally-oriented magnetoresistance sensors configured for:
• remaining outside the body cavity;
• and
• generating three orthogonal probe base electrical signals in response to the ambient magnetic field in three orthogonal axes outside the body cavity;
• displaying the relative location of the ferromagnetic object to the location of the probe tip magnetoresistance module on a two-dimensional display in response to the three orthogonal probe tip electrical signals and the three orthogonal probe base electrical signals, wherein:
• the horizontal and vertical position of the detected ferromagnetic object is presented as a vertical and horizontal distance between a probe tip visual marker and a ferromagnetic object position indicator on the two-dimensional display;
• and
• the relative depth of the detected ferromagnetic object as compared to the location of the probe tip is presented using a visual effect selected from the group of:
• a change in size of the ferromagnetic object position indicator on the two-dimensional display;
• and
• a projection of the ferromagnetic object position indicator onto the base of a simulated cubic volume on the two-dimensional display.