System and method for catheter detection in fluoroscopic images and updating displayed position of catheter

A method for detecting a catheter in fluoroscopic data during a surgical navigation procedure, the method comprising:

• tracking an electromagnetic position of a catheter using electromagnetic coordinates during a navigation procedure of the catheter to a target area;
• displaying the tracked electromagnetic position of the catheter on a display of a 3D rendering;
• acquiring fluoroscopic data from a fluoroscopic sweep of the target area, the fluoroscopic data including 2D fluoroscopic frames of the target area captured from different perspectives;
• constructing fluoroscopic-based three dimensional volumetric data of the target area from the acquired fluoroscopic data, the fluoroscopic-based three dimensional volumetric data including a three-dimensional construction of a soft-tissue target in the target area;
• acquiring, for each 2D frame of the fluoroscopic data, data of a position of the catheter relative to the three-dimensional construction of the soft-tissue target;
• registering the acquired data of the position of the catheter relative to the three-dimensional construction of the soft-tissue with the electromagnetic position of the catheter;
• and
• displaying the position of the catheter on the display of the 3D rendering based on the registering the acquired data of the position of the catheter relative to the three-dimensional construction of the soft-tissue with the electromagnetic position of the catheter.

A system for performing an electromagnetic surgical navigation procedure, the system comprising:

• an electromagnetic tracking system having electromagnetic tracking coordinates;
• a catheter including a sensor configured to couple to the electromagnetic tracking system for detecting a position of the catheter in the electromagnetic tracking coordinates;
• and
• a computing device operably coupled to the electromagnetic tracking system and the catheter, the computing device configured to:
• display a navigation path to guide navigation of the catheter to a target area;
• display the position of the catheter in the electromagnetic coordinates on a 3D rendering;
• acquire fluoroscopic data from a fluoroscopic sweep of the target area, the fluoroscopic data including 2D fluoroscopic frames of the target area captured from different perspectives;
• perform an initial catheter detection for catheter tip candidates in each 2D frame of the fluoroscopic data;
• perform a secondary catheter detection for catheter tip candidates in each 2D frame of the fluoroscopic data;
• eliminate false-positive catheter tip candidates of the secondary catheter detection by reconstructing a 3D position of the catheter tip and finding an intersecting point of rays corresponding to each 2D frame;
• and
• reweigh the catheter tip candidates of the secondary catheter detection based on a distance of the catheter tip candidate from a projected 3D point.