초록 ▼

A catheter tracking system as depicted in FIGS. 1,2, and 3 for locating and tracking a position of a catheter head 16 within a part of a human or animal body 1. The catheter tracking system including of a catheter 10 having a head 16 which is arranged to be conveyed through a human or animal body to

A catheter tracking system as depicted in FIGS. 1,2, and 3 for locating and tracking a position of a catheter head 16 within a part of a human or animal body 1. The catheter tracking system including of a catheter 10 having a head 16 which is arranged to be conveyed through a human or animal body to a desired location, a plurality of magnetic field transducers, at least one of which is disposed on the catheter 18, and others of which are located in/or around a body and which serve as reference transducers 19, and a control unit which energises the plurality of magnetic field transducers. Upon processing of the magnetic field signals the position of a catheter head 16 with respect to reference transducers 19 is determined.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A catheter tracking system for determining the location and orientation of a catheter, said tracking system comprising a plurality of magnetic field transducers and a control unit coupled to said plurality of magnetic field transducers and arranged to energize said plur

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A catheter tracking system for determining the location and orientation of a catheter, said tracking system comprising a plurality of magnetic field transducers and a control unit coupled to said plurality of magnetic field transducers and arranged to energize said plurality of magnetic field transducers to generate or detect magnetic fields, wherein:one of said plurality of magnetic field transducers is disposed on said catheter proximate a distal end thereof, and others of said plurality of magnetic field transducers are disposed at reference positions with respect to each other, and arranged to be substantially independent in accordance with an external calibration method; andconsequent upon detection of magnetic fields generated by selected ones of said plurality of transducers, said control unit operates to process detected signals representative of said detected magnetic fields, to determine three location co-ordinates and two orientation co-ordinates of said catheter with respect to a reference frame defined by said reference transducers.