Patent ID: 7248914
Filing Date: 2007-07-24
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method of navigating the distal end of a medical device through an operating region in a subject's body, the method comprising: introducing the distal end of an elongate medical device having at least one magnetically responsive element fixed thereon into the subiect's body; navigating the distal end of the medical device to the desired site of delivery; expelling a flowable radiopague substance from the medical device at the desired site of delivery; displaying an X-ray image of the operating region, including the distal end of the medical device; determining the location of a localization coil in the distal end of the medical device relative to at least two transmitters at known reference locations, to establish a distal end location in a reference frame translatable to the displayed image; and displaying an enhanced indication of the distal end of the medical device on the X-ray image of the operating region in which the distal end of the medical device is in the presence of the expelled flowable radiopague substance, to facilitate the navigation of the distal end of the device in the operating region.