Apparatus and method for four dimensional soft tissue navigation including endoscopic mapping

Abstract

A surgical instrument navigation system is provided that visually simulates a virtual volumetric scene of a body cavity of a patient from a point of view of a surgical instrument residing in the cavity of the patient. The surgical instrument navigation system includes: a surgical instrument; an imaging device which is operable to capture scan data representative of an internal region of interest within a given patient; a tracking subsystem that employs electro-magnetic sensing to capture in real-time position data indicative of the position of the surgical instrument; a data processor which is operable to render a volumetric, perspective image of the internal region of interest from a point of view of the surgical instrument; and a display which is operable to display the volumetric perspective image of the patient.

1 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . An imaging method comprising:
 (i) affixing a patient tracking device to an external surface of a patient, the patient tracking device comprising a plurality of markers coupled to the patient tracking device at different locations of the patient tracking device and a plurality of localization elements coupled to the patient tracking device at different locations on the patient tracking device, the plurality of markers being coupled to the patient tracking device proximate the plurality of localization of elements;   (ii) creating a first image dataset of an airway of the patient using an imaging device external to the patient, the first image dataset comprising inspiration images depicting the airway and the locations of the plurality of markers at an inspiration point, and expiration images depicting the airway and the locations of the plurality of markers at an expiration point, the first image dataset defining an image;   (iii) defining a patient space using a localization system and the plurality of localization elements;   (iv) determining the locations of the localization elements in patient space;   (v) registering the image space to patient space using the localization system by matching the locations in image space of the markers depicted in the first image dataset with the locations in patient space of the localization elements;   (vi) inserting an instrument into the airway, the instrument having an imaging device and a localization element;   (vii) determining a location of the inserted localization element in the airway in patient space using the localization system;   (viii) recording the location of the instrument in the airway and recording corresponding video or images of a lesion, lymph node, or blood vessel from within the airway using the imaging device on the instrument during a respiratory cycle of the patient;   (ix) constructing a three-dimensional model of the lesion, lymph node, or blood vessel using the recorded location of the instrument and the corresponding video or images; and   (x) correlating the three-dimensional model to image space to determine the location of the lesion, lymph node, or blood vessel in patient space.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the imaging device is an endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the imaging device is an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein a fiber optic localization (FDL) device is disposed on the instrument and the method further comprises:
 determining the shape of the airway using the fiber optic localization (FDL) device; and 
 applying an algorithm to the location information and the determined shape to determine the location and orientation of the instrument within the patient. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the recorded location of the instrument is used to determine a traveled path of the instrument. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the imaging device is an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) device.