Endovascular navigation system and method
A method of navigating and positioning an endovascular device in a vasculature is disclosed. Initially, a system including an endovascular device and at least one transducer is inserted into the lumen of a patient. An acoustic signal is then transmitted within the lumen. A reflected signal is pre-processed to extract one or more acoustic features. The one or more acoustic features are processed using a computer readable set of rules to produce an output related to guidance of the instrument within a blood vessel or a position of the instrument within the blood vessel.
1. A method of determining a position of a medical device in vasculature of a patient, the method comprising:
transmitting an ultrasound signal in the vasculature from a distal end of the medical device;
receiving a reflected ultrasound signal;
extracting an ultrasound feature from the reflected ultrasound signal;
receiving an electrical signal from a lead on the medical device;
extracting an ECG feature from the received electrical signal;
calculating a first indicator score by inputting the ultrasound feature and the ECG feature into a first indicator equation;
calculating a second indicator score by inputting the ultrasound feature and the ECG feature into a second indicator equation;
identifying a positional state of the medical device by comparing the first and second indicator scores; and
displaying an indicator on an output device indicating the positional state.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound feature and the ECG feature infer a distinct position in the vasculature.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second indicator equations represent positioning probabilities.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second indicator equations correspond to membership functions.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein calculating the first indicator score includes applying a weighting factor to the ECG and ultrasound features.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying further comprises selecting the positional state that corresponds to the highest indicator score.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the first and second indicator scores further comprises solving preset equations based on a correlation between the ECG and ultrasound features and a probability of a particular position or state of navigation of the medical device.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of the first and second indicator scores relates extracted acoustic features to a direction of movement of the medical device relative to flow in the vasculature.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of the first and second indicator scores relates acoustic features to flow energy in the vasculature.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of the first and second indicator scores relates acoustic features to flow velocity in the vasculature.