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

Claim 8:
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: detect movement of an ultrasound probe relative to a body, the ultrasound probe having a FOV; detect the FOV relative to the body based on the detected movement of the ultrasound probe; communicate with at least one of i) an ultrasound sensor incorporated in an 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 transducer probe; detect positions of the object within the FOV based on the communication with the at least one of i) the ultrasound sensor or ii) the ultrasound emitter; record, over time, a history of the detected positions of the object within the FOV, generate 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 said FOV relative to the body; and determine 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.