System and method of sensing catheters location and force

1 . A position sensor adapted to measure signals indicative of at least one of a location and orientation of the sensor, comprising:

a circuit board; and

at least three coils located on said circuit board and arranged for sensing different aspects of an external magnetic field, which are indicative of at least one of a location and orientation of the sensor relative to one or more magnetic field sources;

characterized in that:

said circuit board is a flexible circuit board (FCB), and said at least three coils are at least three surface mount coil devices (SMD coils) mounted on the FCB via surface mount technology (SMT), each SMD coil comprising a core and a coil; and

wherein said FCB is furnished at the sensor in a folded/rolled state such that magnetic flux axes of at least three of the SMD coils mounted on the surface of the FCB are not co-planar, thereby generating a plurality of signals from said at least three SMD coils, the plurality of signals being indicative of at least one of the orientation and location of the sensor relative to one or more magnetic field sources.

2 . The position sensor according to claim 1 adapted to measure signals indicative of an orientation of the sensor relative to a first magnetic field source located in-front of the position sensor, wherein said at least three SMD coils include three SMD coils arranged on the FCB such that their magnetic flux axes are parallel to one another and are not co-planar when the FCB is furnished at the sensor in folded/rolled state; thereby enabling the signals obtained from said three SMD coils to be used to determine two angles of orientation of the position sensor relative to the first magnetic field source when it is being located in-front of the sensor with respect to a general direction of said magnetic flux axes.

3 . The position sensor according to claim 2 wherein said three SMD coils are surface mounted to the surface of said FCB via surface mount technology with parallel orientation of their magnetic flux axes relative to the FCB surface; and wherein the FCB is arranged in folded/rolled form at the sensor such that a folding/rolling axis of said folded/rolled form is substantially parallel to the parallel magnetic flux axes of the three SMD coils thereon.

4 . The position sensor according to claim 1 , the position sensor being adapted to measure signals indicative of location and orientation of the sensor relative to one or more second magnetic field sources,

wherein said at least three SMD coils include three SMD coils arranged on the FCB such that when the FCB is folded at the sensor, the magnetic flux axes of said three SMD coils span 3D coordinates, thereby enabling the signals obtained from said three SMD coils to be used to determine a location and orientation of the sensor relative to said one or more second magnetic field sources.

5 . The position sensor according to claim 4 wherein two SMD coils of said three SMD coils are surface mounted to the surface of said FCB via surface mount technology with vertical orientation of their magnetic flux axes relative to the FCB surface such that when the FCB is furnished at the sensor in folded/rolled state, the magnetic flux axes of said two SMD coils are not parallel; and a third SMD coil of said three SMD coils is surface mounted to the surface of said FCB via surface mount technology with parallel orientation of its magnetic flux axis relative to the FCB surface.

6 . The position sensor according to claim 1 , wherein said at least three SMD coils include at least five SMD coils surface mounted to one or more FCBs of said sensor,

wherein a first subset of said at least five SMD coils comprises three SMD coils arranged such that their magnetic flux axes are parallel to one another and are not co-planar when the FCB is furnished at the sensor in folded/rolled state, thereby enabling the signals obtained from the three SMD coils of said first subset to be used to determine two angles of orientation of the sensor relative to a first magnetic field source located in-front of the three SMD coils along a general direction of their magnetic flux axes; and

wherein a second subset of said at least five SMD coils comprises three SMD coils arranged such that when the FCB is furnished at the sensor in folded/rolled state, their magnetic flux axes span 3D coordinates, thereby enabling the signals obtained from the three SMD coils of said second subset to be used to determine a location and orientation of the sensor relative to one or more external second magnetic field sources.

7 . The position sensor according to claim 1 , wherein at least one SMD coil of the at least three SMD coils comprises a coil portion and at least one surface mount portion arranged from at least one respective side of the coil portion;

whereby the coil portion comprises a ferrite core and a conductive winding arrangement arranged in a helix directly over an external surface of said ferrite core with a pitch of said helix not exceeding 12-13 μm.

8 . The position sensor according to claim 7 , wherein said ferrite core comprises material of relative magnetic permeability μ r in the order of at least 100 and wherein the relative magnetic permeability of said material of the ferrite core is stable with tolerance of +0.3% within a temperature range between about 20° C. to 60° C. to enable consistent magnetic field measurements during operation under variable temperature conditions within said temperature range.

9 . The position sensor according to claim 7 , wherein said conductive winding arrangement is fabricated utilizing photolithography directly over said external surface of the ferrite core.

10 . The position sensor according to claim 1 , wherein at least one SMD coil of the at least three SMD coils is mounted in a flat/parallel orientation of its magnetic flux axis relative to the FCB surface and includes a coil portion having a conductive winding arrangement and at least two SMT-mounting portions arranged from opposite sides of the coil portion and having at least two respective electric contacts electrically coupled to the FCB with SMT electrical connection and respectively electrically connected to opposite ends of the conductive winding arrangement.

11 . The position sensor according to claim 1 , wherein at least one SMD coil of the at least three SMD coils is mounted in a vertical/perpendicular orientation of its magnetic flux axis relative to the FCB surface and includes a coil portion having a conductive winding arrangement and at least one SMT-mounting portion arranged from at least one side of the coil portion and having at least two electric contacts electrically coupled to the FCB via SMT electrical connection and respectively electrically connected to opposite ends of the conductive winding arrangement.

12 . A medical instrument comprising a position sensor configured according to claim 1 .

13 . A medical instrument according to claim 12 , wherein said medical instrument is a catheter having an elongated housing comprising a main section having a longitudinal axis and a tip section that is flexibly coupled to a distal end of the main section and includes a first magnetic field source,

wherein said position sensor is accommodated at the main section of the elongated housing such that said FCB being folded/rolled about an axis parallel to said longitudinal axis; a first subset facilitates determining an orientation of said tip section relative to the main section of the housing based on measurement of magnetic fields from said first magnetic field source and a second subset facilitates determining a location and orientation of said main section relative to one or more external second magnetic field sources.

14 . A method to fabricate a magnetic position sensor suitable for use in a medical instrument comprising:

providing a flexible circuit board (FCB);

providing at least three surface mount coil devices (SMD coils), each SMD coil comprising a core and a coil;

mounting the at least three SMD coils on said FCB via surface mount technology (SMT);

folding said FCB with said at least three SMD coils into tubular form whereby said folding is carried out such that a magnetic axes of each of said at least three SMD coils are not coplanar with respect to one another, such that magnetic fields sensed by said at least three SMD coils from one or more magnetic field sources are indicative of at least one of a location and orientation of the sensor relative to said sources.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein said medical instrument is a catheter having a body of tubular shape with an inner diameter of about 2.5 millimeters or less, and

wherein said folding is carried out such that a diameter of said FCB after being folded is smaller than the inner diameter of the body of the catheter, the method further including placing the folded FCB within said body.

16 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the magnetic position sensor is adapted to measure signals indicative of an orientation of the sensor relative to a magnetic field source; said mounting of the at least three SMD coils comprises mounting three of the SMD coils on the FCB such that their magnetic flux axes are parallel to one another and are not co-planar when the FCB is folded to said tubular form, thereby enabling the signals obtained from said three SMD coils to be used to determine two angles of orientation relative to a magnetic field source located in-front of the three SMD coils along a general direction of their magnetic flux axes.

17 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the magnetic position sensor is adapted to measure signals indicative of location and orientation of the sensor relative to one or more external magnetic field sources, and wherein said mounting of the at least three SMD coils comprises mounting three of the SMD coils on the FCB such that when the FCB is folded to said tubular form, the magnetic flux axes of said three SMD coils span 3D coordinates, thereby enabling the signals obtained from said three SMD coils to be used to determine location and orientation of the sensor relative the external magnetic field sources.

18 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the magnetic position sensor is adapted to measure signals indicative of an orientation of the sensor relative to a first magnetic field source and signals indicative of location and orientation of the sensor relative to one or more second external magnetic field sources;

said at least three SMD coils include at least five SMD coils, and

wherein said mounting comprises mounting said at least five SMD coils such that the following arrangement of magnetic flux axes thereof is obtained when the FCB is folded to said tubular form:

the magnetic flux axes of a first subset, which includes at least three SMD coils of said at least five SMD coils, are parallel to one another and are not co-planar to facilitate utilization of signals obtained from said first subset to determine two angles of orientation relative to said first magnetic field source when being located in-front of the three SMD coils of the first subset along a general direction of their parallel magnetic flux axes;

the magnetic flux axes of a second subset, which includes at least three SMD coils of said at least five SMD coils, span 3D coordinates to facilitate utilization of signals obtained from said first subset to determine location and orientation of the sensor relative the one or more external magnetic field sources.

19 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein said mounting is performed utilizing surface mount technology and comprises at least one of the following:

mounting two SMD coils with vertical orientation of their magnetic flux axes relative to the FCB surface and one SMD coil with parallel orientation of its magnetic flux axis relative to the FCB surface such that when the FCB is in folded state, the magnetic flux axes of said two SMD coils and said one SMD coil span 3D coordinates; and

mounting three SMD coils with parallel orientation of their magnetic flux axes relative to the FCB surface such that when the FCB is folded about an axis parallel to the magnetic flux axes, the magnetic flux axes of said three SMD coils are parallel and not co-planar.

20 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein said providing of the at least three SMD coils comprises fabricating at least one SMD coil of said SMD coils utilizing a photolithographic method to form helical conductive windings directly on a ferrite core, wherein the photolithographic method comprises:

applying a photoresist layer to cover at least a tubular section of the ferrite core;

applying photolithography to pattern the photoresist layer to form a helical pattern over the tubular section covered by said photoresist layer; and

electroplating an external surface layer of said ferrite core at the exposed regions of said helical pattern to form said conductive helical windings directly on an external surface layer of said tubular section the ferrite core.

21 . The method according to claim 20 wherein:

said photolithographic method is adapted for fabrication of high density conductive helical windings, and wherein a pitch of said helical pattern and correspondingly of said conductive helical windings is in the order of, or less than, 10 μm; or

said ferrite core comprises fully sintered magnetic material having relative magnetic permeability μ r in the order of at least 100; and wherein said photolithography utilizes a photolithographic light source providing light power density (LDP) and wavelength suited for patterning said photoresists while not inducing substantial damage to the ferrite core; or

said applying of the photoresist layer comprises applying a layer of dry photoresist with thickness of at least 8 μm to enable said electroplating to yield narrow line width of said helical conductive windings with small pitch between adjacent lines and prevent spread electroplating between them; or

prior to said electroplating, said photolithographic method comprises fabricating a seed layer over at least a section of the ferrite core to increase a surface conductivity of the ferrite and facilitate said electroplating; or

after said electroplating, said photolithographic method comprises removing remaining photoresists material from between conductive helical windings; or

said ferrite core is provided with at least one surface mount portion arranged from at least one respective side thereof; and said photoresist, photolithography and electroplating are applied to also form one or more conductive couplings between at least one end of said conductive helical windings and one or more designated locations on said at least one surface mount portion to form one or more SMT contacts.