Patent ID: 11937887
Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 11:
12. A computer implemented ultrasound processing method for use in tracking movement of an object in a medical procedure, the method comprising: detecting movement of an ultrasound probe having an imaging field of view relative to a body and detecting movement of the FOV relative to the body based on the detected movement of the ultrasound probe; communicating with at least one of i) an ultrasound sensor incorporated in the object and configured to detect ultrasound signals transmitted by the ultrasound probe and ii) an ultrasound emitter incorporated in the object and configured to emit ultrasound signals for detection by the ultrasound probe; detecting positions of the object within the FOV based on the communication with the at least one of i) the ultrasound sensor and ii) the ultrasound emitter; recording, over time, a history of the detected positions of the object within the FOV, generating an estimation of a direction of motion of the object through the body, based on the recorded history of the detected positions of the object within the FOV and based on the detected movement of the FOV relative to the body; and determining a range of possible current positions of a designated point on the object within the FOV based on a known distance between the designated point and i) the ultrasound sensor or ii) the ultrasound emitter incorporated in the object and based on the detected positions of the object, wherein the determined range of possible current positions is a circle centered on i) the ultrasound sensor or ii) the ultrasound emitter with a radius equal to a distance between the designated point and i) the ultrasound sensor or ii) the ultrasound emitter, and narrow the range of possible current positions by selection of an arc of the circle of the possible current positions based on the generated estimation of the direction of motion of the object.