Method and device for preparing a drainage

1. A method for positioning at least one drainage catheter on a patient body in which a fluid is present, said method comprising:

(a) performing a body-specific detection of at least one of (i) anatomical structure or (ii) tissue structure on the patient body;

(b) detecting at least one of (i) a position of the fluid in the patient body relative to the surrounding tissue or anatomical structures or (ii) the amount of the fluid in the patient body using at least one of (i) a nuclear spin resonance method (MRI), (ii) computer tomography method (CT), (iii) an X-ray method, (iv) a SPECT method or (v) an ultrasound method; and

(c) based on steps (a) and (b), positioning at least one catheter such that at least a part of the fluid can be drained from the patient body.

2. The method as set forth claim 1 , wherein step (a) is performed using at least one of (i) a nuclear spin resonance method (MRI), (ii) computer tomography method (CT), (iii) an X-ray method, (iv) a SPECT method or (v) an ultrasound method.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein at least one catheter is positioned on the body using a navigation method.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

storing flow characteristics of the fluid in a database; and

using the stored flow characteristics to simulate the fluid drainage.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

storing parameters of the fluid to be drained from the body in a database; and

using the stored parameters to simulate the fluid drainage.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

storing parameters of the at least one catheter in a database; and

using the stored parameters to simulate the fluid drainage.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

outputting individually adapted data for adapting or modifying at least one predetermined standard catheter.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at least one of (i) flow rate of the fluid to be drained or (ii) a negative pressure to be applied to the catheter.

9. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

capturing additional data after the drainage has been performed to verify or modify the drainage.

10. A method for planning a drainage of a fluid from an interstice of a patient body, the method comprising:

(a) acquiring patient body-specific data representative of at least one of (i) anatomical structure or (ii) tissue structure on the patient body;

(b) acquiring data representative of at least one of (i) a position of the fluid in the patient body relative to the surrounding tissue or anatomical structures or (ii) an amount of the fluid in the patient body using at least one of (i) a nuclear spin resonance method (MRI), (ii) computer tomography method (CT), (iii) an X-ray method, (iv) a SPECT method or (v) an ultrasound method;

(c) selecting a location of at least one catheter on or in the patient body;

(d) performing a computer-based simulation of the drainage based on:

the acquired data representative of at least one of (i) anatomical structure or (ii) tissue structure;

the acquired data representative of at least one of (i) position of fluid in the patient body or (ii) amount of fluid in the patient body; and

the selected location of at least one catheter on or in the patient body.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

storing flow characteristics of the fluid in a database; and

using the stored flow characteristics to simulate the fluid drainage.

12. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

storing parameters of the fluid to be drained from the body in a database; and

using the stored parameters to simulate the fluid drainage.

13. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

storing parameters of the at least one catheter in a database; and

using the stored parameters to simulate the fluid drainage.

14. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

outputting individually adapted data for adapting or modifying at least one predetermined standard catheter.

15. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

determining at least one of (i) flow rate of the fluid to be drained and (ii) a negative pressure to be applied to the catheter.

16. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising:

capturing additional data after the drainage has been performed to verify or modify the drainage.

17. A computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium for planning a drainage of a fluid from an interstice of a patient body, wherein the program instructs a computer to:

(a) acquire patient body-specific data representative of at least one of (i) anatomical structure or (ii) tissue structure on the patient body;

(b) acquire data representative of at least one of (i) a position of the fluid in the patient body relative to the surrounding tissue or anatomical structures or (ii) an amount of the fluid in the patient body using at least one of (i) a nuclear spin resonance method (MRI), (ii) computer tomography method (CT), (iii) an X-ray method, (iv) a SPECT method or (v) an ultrasound method;

(c) select a location of at least one catheter on or in the patient body; and

(d) perform a computer-based simulation of the drainage based on:

the acquired data representative of at least one of (i) anatomical structure or (ii) tissue structure;

the acquired data representative of at least one of (i) position of fluid in the patient body or (ii) amount of fluid in the patient body; and

the selected location of at least one catheter on or in the patient body.

18. A device for simulating a drainage of a fluid from a patient, comprising:

a data capture device that captures data indicative of at least one of (i) structure of the patient or (ii) position of a fluid in the patient relative to surrounding tissue or anatomical structures;

an input device for inputting a position of at least one catheter, and

a computer system that simulates fluid drainage on the basis of the captured patient data and the position of the catheter.

19. The device as set forth in claim 18 , further comprising a device for determining the position on the patient of the at least one catheter.

20. A method of planning a drainage of a fluid from an interstice of a patient, the method comprising:

providing an initial drainage plan based on known or recorded patient data, catheter parameters and fluid parameters; and

performing a computer-based simulation of the drainage according to the initial drainage plan, the computer-based simulation generating simulated drainage results.

21. The method as set forth in claim 20 , further comprising:

based on the simulated drainage results, modifying the initial drainage plan.

22. The method as set forth in claim 21 , further comprising:

performing an actual drainage according to the modified initial drainage plan;

recording results of the actual drainage;

comparing the actual drainage results with the simulated drainage results.

23. The method as set forth in claim 22 , further comprising:

based on the comparison between the actual drainage results and/or the simulated drainage results, further modifying the modified initial drainage plan; and

performing a computer-based simulation of the drainage according to the at least twice-modified initial drainage plan.