Systems and methods for localizing, tracking and/or controlling medical instruments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12137990-B2
Application number	US-202217965917-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 14, 2022
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Nov 12, 2024
Grant date	Nov 12, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods are described herein for tracking, localization or controlling an elongate instrument or other medical instrument in an image or patient.

First claim

We claim:

1. A robotic system comprising:
an elongate instrument;
a localization sensor coupled to the elongate instrument;
a robotic drive system comprising at least one actuator, the robotic drive system configured to position the elongate instrument with respect to a target space; and
a controller configured to;
produce a registration between a first coordinate frame of the localization sensor, and a second coordinate frame of at least one of an image or a patient,
produce a plurality of signals to direct the robotic drive system or elongate instrument in the second coordinate frame using the registration and wherein the image comprises an image of the target space, and
track movement of the elongate instrument by:
initializing an active contour in the image,
predicting, based on a robotic motion command received from a user, a next active contour of the elongate instrument as the elongate instrument is moved, and
updating the active contour in the image as the elongate instrument moves in the patient.

2. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the localization sensor is an electromagnetic localization sensor.

3. The robotic system of claim 2 , further comprising an electromagnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field, wherein the electromagnetic localization sensor is configured to generate localization data when the electromagnetic localization sensor is placed in the magnetic field.

4. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to continuously track one or both of a position or orientation of the localization sensor.

5. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the image is a computed tomography (CT) image.

6. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to produce the registration by transforming localization data generated by the localization sensor to the second coordinate frame such that the localization data of the elongate instrument is overlaid on the image.

7. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the image is a 3D anatomical model, 2D anatomical model, 2D fluoroscopic image, or 3D fluoroscopic image.

8. The robotic system of claim 1 , further comprising an image intensifier, wherein the controller is configured to register localization data from the localization sensor to a fluoroscopy coordinate system of a fluoroscopy image coupled to the image intensifier.

9. The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to register localization data from the localization sensor to the fluoroscopy coordinate system of the fluoroscopy image based on:
a distance from an X-ray source to the image intensifier, a distance from the X-ray source to a bed, a size of the image intensifier, and/or an axis of rotation of a c-arm of a fluoroscopy system.

10. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the elongate instrument is a robotically controlled catheter.

11. The robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the image includes multiple images.

12. The robotic system of claim 1 , further comprising a user input device coupled to the controller, wherein the user input device is operable to receive user input to drive the elongate instrument using the robotic drive system.

13. The robotic system of claim 1 , the active contour including a representation in the image, the representation including a plurality of nodes indicating positions of corresponding distal portions of the elongate instrument.

14. The robotic system of claim 1 , the updating including performing an image-based search within a region of the image corresponding to a location of the predicted next active contour in the image.

15. A robotic system comprising:
a robotic drive system comprising at least one actuator, the robotic drive system configured to position an elongate instrument with respect to a target space; and
a controller configured to:
produce a registration between a first coordinate frame of a localization sensor coupled to the elongate instrument, and a second coordinate frame of an image of the target space,
produce a plurality of signals to direct the robotic drive system or elongate instrument in the second coordinate frame using the registration,
initialize an active contour in the image,
predict, based on a robotic motion command received from a user, a next active contour of the elongate instrument as the elongate instrument is moved, and
update the active contour in the image as the elongate instrument moves in a patient.

16. The robotic system of claim 15 , the active contour including a representation in the image, the representation including a plurality of nodes indicating positions of corresponding distal portions of the elongate instrument.

17. The robotic system of claim 15 , the update including performing an image-based search within a region of the image corresponding to a location of the predicted next active contour in the image.

18. The robotic system of claim 15 , further comprising the elongate instrument.

19. The robotic system of claim 18 , the elongate instrument including a catheter.

20. A robotic system comprising:
a robotic drive system configured to position an elongate instrument with respect to a target space; and
a controller configured to:
produce a registration between a first coordinate frame of a localization sensor coupled to the elongate instrument, and a second coordinate frame of an image of the target space,
produce a plurality of signals to direct the robotic drive system or elongate instrument in the second coordinate frame using the registration, and
predict, based on a robotic motion command received from a user, a next active contour of the elongate instrument as the elongate instrument is moved.

Assignees

• Auris Health Inc

Inventors

• Walker Sean
• Sewell Christopher
• Park June
• Ravindran Prabu
• Koolwal Aditya
• Camarillo Dave
• Barbagli Federico

Classifications

• A61B6/5258

  involving detection or reduction of artifacts or noise · CPC title

• A61B6/5205

  involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data · CPC title

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B2034/2051

  Electromagnetic tracking systems · CPC title

• A61B34/30

  Surgical robots · CPC title