Position tracking and imaging system for use in medical applications

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved within an operating environment;
• a remote unit securable from movement with respect to the medical instrument;
• a field generator securable from movement with respect to the operating environment and being positioned on one side only of the patient's body, leaving the opposing side as well as adjacent sides of the patient's body relatively unobstructed, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field capable of passing through the patient's body and being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor securable from movement with respect to said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor securable with respect to said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means in communication with said first field sensor and said second field sensor, said position detection means for producing position data responsive to said sensor output signal representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit irrespective of any movement of the patient within the operating environment;
• and
• output display means in communication with said position detection means for displaying an image of the patient's body responsive to said position data.

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• input means for communicating with image data, said image data representing a plurality of images of the patient's body;
• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved within an operating environment;
• a remote unit securable from movement with respect to the medical instrument;
• a field generator securable from movement with respect to the operating environment and being positioned on one side only of the patient's body, leaving the opposing side as well as adjacent sides of the patient's body relatively unobstructed, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field capable of passing through the patient's body and being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor securable from movement with respect to said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor securable with respect to said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means in communication with said first field sensor and said second field sensor, said position detection means for producing position data responsive to said sensor output signal representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit irrespective of any movement of the patient within the operating environment;
• tracking means in communication with said input means and said position detection means, said tracking means for selecting from said image data position image data associated with said position data;
• and
• output display means in communication with said tracking means for displaying an image of the patient's body responsive to said position image data, said position image data varying for different position data.

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• support means for supporting at least a portion of the patient's body;
• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved with respect to said support unit;
• a remote unit for attachment to the medical instrument;
• a field generator securable from movement with respect to said support unit, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field capable of passing through the patient's body and being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor securable from movement with respect to said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor securable from movement with respect to said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means responsive to said first and second sensor output signals for producing position data representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit;
• and
• output display means in communication with said position detection means for displaying the images of the patient's body responsive to said position data.

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• input means for communicating with image data, said image data representing a plurality of images of the patient's body;
• support means for supporting at least a portion of the patient's body;
• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved with respect to said support unit;
• a remote unit for attachment to the medical instrument;
• a field generator securable from movement with respect to said support unit, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field capable of passing through the patient's body and being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor securable from movement with respect to said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor securable from movement with respect to said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means responsive to said first and second sensor output signals for producing position data representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit;
• tracking means in communication with said input means and said position detection means, said tracking means for selecting from said image data position image data associated with said position data and
• output display means in communication with said tracking means for displaying an image of the patient's body responsive to said position image data, said position image data varying for different position data.

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved within an operating environment;
• a remote unit for attachment to the medical instrument;
• a field generator that is securable from movement with respect to the operating environment, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field that emanates from a substantially singular point source, and transmits into the area around and within the patient's body, said position characteristic field being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor associated with said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor associated with said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means responsive to said first and second sensor output signals for producing position data representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit;
• and
• output display means in communication with said position detection means for displaying the images of the patient's body responsive to said position data.

A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body and for displaying images of the patient's body responsive to the position of the medical instrument, said system comprising:

• input means for communicating with image data, said image data representing a plurality of images of the patient's body;
• a reference unit securable from movement with respect to the patient's body yet permitting the patient's body to be moved within an operating environment;
• a remote unit for attachment to the medical instrument;
• a field generator that is securable from movement with respect to the operating environment, said field generator for generating an electromagnetic position characteristic field that emanates from a substantially singular point source, and transmits into the area around and within the patient's body, said position characteristic field being substantially undisturbed by passage through the patient's body;
• a first field sensor associated with said reference unit, said first field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a first sensor output signal representative of a position of said first sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said first field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• a second field sensor associated with said remote unit, said second field sensor being responsive to the presence of said position characteristic field for producing a second sensor output signal representative of a position of said second sensor relative to said field generator irrespective of whether said second field sensor is within or outside of the patient's body;
• position detection means responsive to said first and second sensor output signals for producing position data representative of a position of said remote unit with respect to said reference unit;
• tracking means in communication with said input means and said position detection means, said tracking means for selecting from said image data position image data associated with said position data;
• and
• output display means in communication with said tracking means for displaying an image of the patient's body responsive to said position image data, said position image data varying for different position data.