# US 12,594,126 B2 · Intraluminal navigation using virtual satellite targets > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,594,126 B2 - Document ID: US12594126B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/558,378 - Filed: 2021-12-21 - Published: 2022-06-30 - Granted: 2026-04-07 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-30 - Assignees: Canon U.S.A., Inc. - Applicants: Canon U.S.A., Inc. - Inventors: Brian Ninni - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12594126B2 ## CPC - A61B 34/20: Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis - A61B 34/30: Surgical robots - A61B 34/71: {Manipulators operated by drive cable mechanisms} - A61B 34/25: {User interfaces for surgical systems} - A61B 2017/00314: {Separate linked members} - A61B 2017/00323: {Cables or rods} - A61B 2017/00809: {Lung operations} - A61B 2034/2048: {using an accelerometer or inertia sensor} - A61B 2034/2051: {Electromagnetic tracking systems} - A61B 2034/301: {for introducing or steering flexible instruments inserted into the body, e.g. catheters or endoscopes} - A61B 2090/064: {for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension} - A61B 2090/306: {using optical fibres} - A61B 2090/309: {using white LEDs} - A61B 2090/3614: {using optical fibre} - A61B 2090/3966: {Radiopaque markers visible in an X-ray image} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract A system and method that provides navigation guidance for intraluminal procedures comprises: a catheter configured to be inserted into a lumen receive an actuating force from an actuator; and a tracking system configured to acquire position and orientation of the catheter with respect a lumen. A processor in communication with the actuator and the tracking system is configured to: register a position and/or orientation of the catheter tip with respect to a reference target, and generate one or more satellite targets in a region of interest surrounding the reference target. A display screen displays a virtual representation of the distal end of the catheter, and a virtual representation of the one or more satellite targets, as navigation guidance. A user is able to determine how to align the catheter tip with the one or more satellite targets to perform an intraluminal procedure. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A robotic system for an intraluminal procedure, the robotic system comprising: a catheter having a proximal portion attachable to an actuator unit and a distal portion insertable into a lumen; a tracking system including at least one sensor, the tracking system configured to record position and orientation of the distal portion of the catheter; and a processor in communication with the actuator unit and the tracking system, the processor being configured to: register, in a navigation mode, at least one of the recorded position and orientation of the distal portion of the catheter with respect to a reference target; generate, in a targeting mode, at least two satellite targets; generate, in the targeting mode, a virtual representation of the distal portion of the catheter and a virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets; control displaying the virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets, and generate, in the targeting mode, actions to align a tip of the catheter with a selected target, wherein the processor is further configured to: control displaying one or more of a distance error, an insertion trajectory, and an insertion depth for aligning and/or navigating the distal end of the catheter to at least one of the at least two satellite targets, and modify size, suppress, or fade the display of the virtual representation of the at least one of the at least two satellite targets based on information regarding the intraluminal procedure performed on a selected at least one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate a virtual representation of the reference target; calculate, based on the position and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter, subsequent positions and/or orientations for the distal portion of the catheter to successively align and/or navigate the distal portion of the catheter to each one of the satellite targets; and control displaying the virtual representation of the reference target and a plurality of arrows representing at least one of direction and magnitude for at least one of bending the distal portion of the catheter, and moving the catheter to navigate to a selected satellite target. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control displaying one or more of: a recorded image of the reference target, the virtual representation of the distal portion of the catheter and a virtual representation of the reference target, and wherein the displaying aids successive aligning and/or navigating of the distal portion of the catheter with the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to prompt a user to successively select each of the at least two satellite targets to which the distal portion of the catheter is to be aligned and/or navigated. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control displaying an orientation angle for aligning and/or navigating the distal end of the catheter to at least one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The robotic system according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to: update the one or more of the orientation angle, the distance error, the insertion trajectory, and the insertion depth, and output navigation guidance showing a user how to successively align the distal portion of the catheter with at least one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein: the catheter includes a tool channel with a removable imaging device at a distal end thereof, and after registering the position and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter with respect to the reference target, the processor is further configured to prompt a user to remove the imaging device from the tool channel and insert an end effector tool through the tool channel without removing the catheter from the lumen. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The robotic system according to claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to control display of an orientation angle for guiding the end effector tool from the distal portion of the catheter to at least one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The robotic system according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to control: when the insertion trajectory intersects a selected one of the at least two satellite targets to within a threshold value, output of a confirmation, and when the insertion trajectory does not intersect the selected one of the at least two satellite targets by a distance error greater than the threshold value, output of a warning. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The robotic system according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to prompt the user to cycle through each of the at least two satellite targets to perform the intraluminal procedure utilizing the end effector tool on each one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The robotic system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control a size of the virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets, and wherein display size of each satellite target is based on a total number of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The robotic system of claim 1, wherein the actions to align the tip of the catheter with the selected target include providing instructions in a virtual view based on a real-time positional relation between the catheter tip and the selected target. ### Claim 13 A method of providing navigation guidance for an intraluminal procedure, the method comprising: introducing a distal portion of a catheter into a lumen of a patient; recording a positional relation between the distal portion of catheter and a reference target; determining, based on the recorded positional relation, a position and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter with respect to the reference target; generating at least two satellite targets around the reference target; generating a virtual representation of the distal portion of the catheter and a virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets; and displaying one or more of a distance error, an insertion trajectory, and an insertion depth for aligning and/or navigating the distal end of the catheter to at least one of the at least two satellite targets, wherein display size of each satellite target is based on a total number of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, further comprising: generating a virtual representation of the reference target; calculating, based on the position and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter, subsequent positions and/or orientations for the distal portion of the catheter to successively align and/or navigate the distal portion of the catheter to each of the at least two satellite targets; and displaying the virtual representation of the reference target, the virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets, and a plurality of arrows representing at least one of direction and magnitude for at least one of bending the distal portion of the catheter and moving the catheter to navigate to a selected satellite target. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein the catheter includes a tool channel with a removable imaging device at a distal end thereof, the method further comprising: prompting a user to remove the imaging device from the tool channel and to insert an end effector tool through the tool channel without removing the catheter from the lumen. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, further comprising: displaying, on a display screen, an orientation angle for guiding the end effector tool from the distal portion of the catheter to at least one of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, further comprising: displaying, on a display screen, one of a confirmation and a warning, wherein the confirmation is displayed when the insertion trajectory of the end effector tool intersects a selected one of the at least two satellite targets to within a threshold value, and wherein the warning is displayed when the insertion trajectory of the end effector tool does not intersect a selected one of the at least two satellite targets by an error distance greater than the threshold value. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, further comprising: prompting a user to successively select each of the at least two satellite targets to which the distal portion of the catheter is to be aligned and/or navigated. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein the virtual representation of the at least two satellite targets is a modifiable pattern. ### Claim 20 A method of providing navigation guidance to perform an intraluminal procedure, the method executed by a computer system comprising a processor and a graphical user interface, the method comprising: inserting a distal portion of a catheter into a lumen; aligning the distal portion of the catheter with a region of interest located inside the lumen; recording a real-time positional relation between the distal end of the catheter and a reference target; determining, based on the positional relation, a position and/or orientation of the distal portion of the catheter with respect to the reference target; generating at least two satellite targets; calculating, by the processor, a trajectory from the distal end of the catheter to each one of the at least two satellite targets; displaying an image of the reference target and a virtual representation of the one or more satellite targets; receiving, through the graphical user interface, at least one input for arranging at least one of the at least two satellite targets around the reference target within the region of interest; and displaying image guidance for successively aligning the distal portion of the catheter with each of the at least two satellite targets, wherein the display size of each satellite target is based on a total number of the at least two satellite targets. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the image guidance is based on the recorded real-time positional relation and includes changing at least one of a color, a unique identification, a pattern, visibility, and a magnitude of a line indicator.