Three-dimensional tracking and imaging system
AssigneeSonometrics Corporation
InventorsIvan Vesely, Wayne L. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A 3-D tracking and imaging system (1600) for tracking the position of a surgical instrument (e.g., a catheter, probe, a sensor, needle or the like) inserted into a body, and displaying a 3-D image showing the position of the surgical instrument in reference to a 3-D image of the environment surrounding the surgical instrument. The 3-D tracking and imaging system (1600) aiding a physician in the guidance of the surgical instrument inside the body.
Claims20
A 3-D tracking and imaging system, comprising:
- a plurality of mobile transducer means mounted to an instrument means;
- at least one reference transducer means for establishing a reference frame relative to said plurality of mobile transducer means;
- coordinate generation means for generating three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of mobile transducers relative to the reference frame established by the at least one reference transducer means;
- imaging modality means for generating one or more digital images of the environment surrounding the instrument means;
- image registration means for receiving the three-dimensional coordinates and the one or more digital images, and generating one or more 3-D composites evidencing the position of the plurality of mobile transducer means in relation to the one or more digital images;
- and
- display means adapted for displaying one or more 3-D composites.
A 3-D tracking and imaging system comprising:
- a plurality of transducer means mounted to an instrument means;
- one or more transducer means located at fixed positions to establish a reference frame relative to the plurality of transducer means mounted to the instrument means;
- coordinate generation means for generating three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of transducers mounted to an instrument means relative to the reference frame established by the one or more transducer means located at fixed positions;
- imaging modality means for generating image data showing an environment surrounding the instrument means;
- image registration means for registering the three-dimensional coordinates in the image generated by the imaging modality means to generate a 3-D image scene showing the location of the plurality of transducer means mounted to the instrument means in relation to the image data;
- and
- display means for displaying the 3-D image scene.
A method of tracking an instrument inside a medium within a body and imaging the environment surrounding the instrument in the body, comprising:
- mounting a plurality of transducer means to an instrument means;
- locating at least one transducer means at fixed positions to establish a reference frame relative to the plurality of transducer means mounted to the instrument means;
- generating three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of transducer mounted to the instrument means relative to the reference frame established by the transducer means located at fixed positions;
- generating image data showing an environment surrounding the instrument means;
- registering the three-dimensional coordinates with the image data to form a 3-D image scene showing the location of the plurality of transducer means mounted to the instrument means relative to the image data;
- and
- displaying the 3-D image scene.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.