Patent ID: 8467850
Filing Date: 2013-06-18
Classification: A61B,A61M

Abstract:
1. A method to monitor the navigation of a mobile, guidable, medical instrument as part of a medical imaging method, the method comprising: acquiring, by an acquisition device comprising a radiation source and a sensor, at least one 2D image of a cavity for which a 3D representation is available and acquiring, the 3D representation; receiving information indicating that a tip of the medical instrument is in contact with a first wall of the cavity in which the medical instrument is being navigated; for each of the at least one 2D image, defining an axis joining together the radiation source of the acquisition device and a projection point of the medical instrument tip onto the sensor of the acquisition device; receiving data indicative of at least one strain information relative to a force applied to the medical instrument to control guiding of the medical instrument to determine a point corresponding to a wall of the cavity that is closest to the radiation source of the acquisition device and a point corresponding to a wall of the cavity that is furthest from the radiation source of the acquisition device; based on the at least one strain information and when the medical instrument tip is in contact with the first wall of the cavity, determining whether the force applied to the medical instrument tends to direct the medical instrument tip towards the wall of the cavity closest to the radiation source of the acquisition device or towards the wall of the cavity furthest from the radiation source of the acquisition device; and combining the at least one strain information, the at least one 2D image and the 3D representation to determine a position of the medical instrument.