Patent Document ID: 20080118103
Application ID: 11561727
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A system for navigating an image-guided object traveling in an area of interest of an imaged subject supported on table in relation to an acquired image of the imaged subject, comprising: an image detector operable to generate the acquired image of the imaged subject, a location of the image detector defining a detector coordinate system; a gantry in mobile support of the image detector relative to the table, a location of the gantry defining a gantry coordinate system; a first tracking element fixed with respect to the table in support of the imaged subject, the first tracking element defining a first tracking coordinate system, the first tracking element not located within a field of view of the image detector; and a second tracking element attached at the object traveling through the imaged subject, the second tracking element in electromagnetic communication with the first tracking element, the second tracking element defining a second tracking coordinate system; a controller electrically connected in communication with the first and second tracking elements, the controller having a processor operable to execute a plurality of program instructions stored in a memory, the plurality of program instructions comprising: registering the image coordinate system with the detector coordinate system; acquiring a spatial relation between the detector coordinate system and the gantry coordinate system; acquiring a spatial relation between the gantry coordinate system and a table coordinate system; registering the first tracking coordinate system defined by the first tracking element with respect to the table coordinate system; acquiring the spatial relation between the first tracking element relative to the second tracking element; translating the spatial relation between first tracking element and the second tracking element at the object automatically into a spatial relation of the object relative to the image; and generating a composite image comprising a virtual image of the object in spatial relation to the image of the imaged subject acquired by the image detector.