PATENTS
Apparatus and Method for Catheter Guidance Control and Imaging
Patent Number: US 7,769,427 B2
Date Filed: August 3, 2010
Country Filed In: USA
Product Application: CGCI
Description:
This patent described a system whereby a magnetic tip attached to a surgical tool is detected, displayed, and positioned. A Virtual Tip serves as an operator control. The movement of the operator control produces a corresponding movement of the magnetic tip inside the patient's body. Additionally, the control provides tactile feedback to the operator's hand in the appropriate axis or axes if the magnetic tip encounters an obstacle. The output of the control combined with the magnetic tip position and orientation feedback allows a servo system to control the external magnetic field by pulse width modulating the positioning electromagnet. Data concerning the dynamic position of a moving body part such as a beating heart offset the servo systems response in such a way that the magnetic tip, and hence the secondary tool is caused to move in unison with the moving body part.
Field of Use: The Catheter Guidance Control and Imaging (CGCI) system was created to provide physicians the ability to guide a catheter through a patient's body using a robotically-controlled magnetic guidance system. Such a system provides the physician unprecedented accuracy in being able to navigate within the dynamic environment of the patient, create a detailed 3-D mapping, and perform a variety of catheter-based operations with precision control and an ability to return to target at the push of a button. Initial applications for the technology were for the field of Electrophysiology and specifically for the ablation of the heart to treat patients with AFib.