Method and apparatus for localizing an ultrasound catheter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10639004-B2
Application number	US-201414308221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2014
Priority date	Nov 23, 2004
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

An imaging system is provided with an ultrasound catheter and a controller coupled to the ultrasound catheter. The catheter includes a localizer sensor configured to generate positional information for the ultrasound catheter, and an imaging ultrasound sensor having a restricted field of view. The controller co-registers images from the imaging ultrasound sensor with positional information from the localizer sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A medical apparatus for co-registering x-ray and ultrasound images, comprising:
a controller adapted to couple to an ultrasound imaging catheter and an x-ray imaging source, the controller configured to:
establish a frame of reference with the x-ray imaging source;
determine a location of the ultrasound imaging catheter within the frame of reference;
receive an x-ray image containing the ultrasound imaging catheter and a tissue surrounding the ultrasound imaging catheter;
receive at least one ultrasound image of the tissue from the ultrasound imaging catheter;
co-register the x-ray image with at least one ultrasound image from the ultrasound imaging catheter;
generate on a display device a graphical representation including the x-ray image from the x-ray imaging source, the at least one ultrasound image from the ultrasound imaging catheter, and a visual indicator corresponding to the co-registration of the x-ray image with the at least one ultrasound image;
generate a model of a geometry of an anatomical structure and highlight one or more features on the model corresponding to a location for which the at least one ultrasound image has been captured by the ultrasound imaging catheter; and
generate a spatial representation of a field of view of the ultrasound imaging catheter onto the model, wherein the spatial representation indicates a portion of the anatomical structure that is or will be imaged based upon the location of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

2. The medical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator indicates that the at least one ultrasound image is co-registered with the x-ray image.

3. The medical apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the visual indicator comprises a highlighted section of interest of the tissue.

4. The medical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to co-register at least one additional image from a second imaging catheter.

5. The medical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to correlate the at least one ultrasound image to an anatomical structure located within a field of view of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

6. A method for imaging tissue within the body of a patient, comprising:
establishing a frame of reference with an x-ray imaging source;
determining a location of an ultrasound imaging catheter within the frame of reference;
receiving from the x-ray imaging source an x-ray image containing the ultrasound imaging catheter and a tissue surrounding the ultrasound imaging catheter;
receiving from the ultrasound imaging catheter at least one ultrasound image of the tissue;
co-registering the x-ray image with the at least one ultrasound image from the ultrasound imaging catheter;
outputting to a display device a graphical representation including the x-ray image, the at least one ultrasound image, and a visual indicator corresponding to the co-registration of the x-ray image with the at least one ultrasound image;
generating a model of a geometry of an anatomical structure and highlighting one or more features on the model corresponding to a location for which the at least one ultrasound image has been captured by the ultrasound imaging catheter;
displaying the highlighted model on the display device; and
projecting a spatial representation of a field of view of the ultrasound imaging catheter onto the model, wherein the spatial representation indicates a portion of the anatomical structure that is or will be imaged based upon the location of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the visual indicator indicates that the at least one ultrasound image is co-registered with the x-ray image.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the visual indicator comprises a highlighted section of interest of the tissue.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising correlating the at least one ultrasound image to an anatomical structure located within a field of view of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

10. A system for co-registering x-ray and ultrasound images of a patient's body, the system comprising:
a field emitter configured to generate an electrical field within the body;
an ultrasound imaging catheter, comprising:
an elongate body including a proximal section and a distal section;
at least one annular ultrasound imaging sensor disposed on the distal section of the elongate body and configured to image tissue within a field of view surrounding the ultrasound imaging catheter; and
a plurality of positional sensors configured to sense the electrical field generated by the field emitter; and

a controller adapted to couple to the field emitter, the ultrasound imaging catheter, and an x-ray imaging source, wherein the controller is configured to:
establish a frame of reference with the x-ray imaging source;
determine a location of each of the plurality of positional sensors within the frame of reference;
receive an x-ray image containing the ultrasound imaging catheter and the tissue surrounding the ultrasound imaging catheter;
receive at least one ultrasound image of the tissue from the ultrasound imaging catheter;
co-register the x-ray image with the at least one ultrasound image from the ultrasound imaging catheter;
output the x-ray image and the at least one ultrasound image to a display device;
generate a model of a geometry of an anatomical structure and highlight one or more features on the model corresponding to a location for which the at least one ultrasound image has been captured by the ultrasound imaging sensor; and
project a spatial representation of a field of view of the ultrasound imaging catheter onto the model, wherein the spatial representation indicates a portion of the anatomical structure that is or will be imaged based upon the location of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate on the display device a visual indicator corresponding to the co-registration of the x-ray image with the at least one ultrasound image.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to project onto the display device a three-dimensional position of the ultrasound imaging catheter.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to correlate the at least one ultrasound image to an anatomical structure located within the field of view.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one ultrasound imaging sensor comprises a phased-array transducer.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the field emitter comprises an external magnetic field emitter, and wherein the positional sensors are magnetic positional sensors.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the field emitter comprises an external electric field emitter, and wherein the positional sensors are resistive or impedance positional sensors.

Assignees

• St Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Div Inc

Inventors

• Byrd Charles Bryan
• Dala-Krishna Praveen
• Jenkins David A

Classifications

• A61B8/445

  Details of catheter construction · CPC title

• A61B5/064

  using markers (A61B5/062 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B8/4254

  using sensors mounted on the probe · CPC title

• A61B8/463

  characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display · CPC title

• A61B8/4263

  using sensors not mounted on the probe, e.g. mounted on an external reference frame · CPC title