System and method for lung visualization using ultrasound
A system for ultrasound interrogation of a lung includes a memory, an electromagnetic (EM) board, an extended working channel (EWC), an EM sensor, a US transducer, and a processor. The memory stores a three dimensional (3D) model, a pathway plan for navigating a luminal network. An EM board generates an EM field. The EWC is configured to navigate the luminal network of a patient toward a target following the pathway plan and the EM sensor extends distally from the EWC and senses the EM field. The US transducer extends distally from a distal end of the EWC and generates US waves and receives US waves reflected from the luminal network and the processor processes the sensed EM field to synchronize a location of the EM sensor in the 3D model, to process the reflected US waves to generate images, or to integrate the generated images with the 3D model.
1. A lung visualization system using ultrasound (US) imaging, the lung visualization system comprising:
a memory storing a first three dimensional (3D) model of a luminal network of a lung;
an electromagnetic (EM) board configured to generate an EM field;
a first catheter configured to navigate the luminal network toward a target;
a second catheter configured to be inserted through the first catheter;
an EM sensor configured to sense the EM field;
an US transducer configured to transmit US waves and generate US images based on the US waves reflected from the luminal network, the EM sensor positioned at a distal portion of one of the first and second catheters and the US transducer positioned at a distal portion of the other one of the first and second catheters;
a processor configured to:
process the sensed EM field to measure a travelling distance of the EM sensor;
scale the travelling distance so that the scaled distance is matched to a coordinate system of the first 3D model;
replace lower resolution portions of Computed Tomography (CT) image data from which the first 3D model was generated with the generated US images at a location of the US transducer based on the scaling of the travelling distance, yielding a modified CT image data;
generate a second 3D model from the modified CT image data, wherein the second 3D model has a higher resolution than the first 3D model; and
a display device configured to display the second 3D model.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate a scale factor for the travelling distance between a coordinate system of the EM field and a coordinate system of the first 3D model.
3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the display device is configured to display a status related to the location of the EM sensor.
4. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the status indicates whether the EM sensor is located at a not-in-target location, at the target, or at a location adjacent to healthy tissue.
5. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the status indicates whether treatment of the target is complete.
6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein a resolution of the generated US images is finer than a resolution of the first 3D model.
7. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the EM sensor is located at the distal portion of the first catheter.
8. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of reference sensors located on a patient and configured to recognize a breathing pattern of the patient.
9. The system according to claim 8 , further comprising a tracking device coupled to the plurality of reference sensors and the EM sensor, and configured to compensate for a detection location of the EM sensor based on the breathing pattern.
10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the generated US images are integrated near the location of the EM sensor in the first 3D model.
11. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to identify tissue density according to the reflected US waves.
12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether a treatment device is at a center of a target.
13. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a sufficiency of treatment in consideration of a density of the target according to the reflected US waves.
14. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to detect a size of the target.
15. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine shrinkage of the target in real-time during and after a treatment of the target.
16. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the generated US images show tissue outside of the luminal network.
17. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the US transducer is positioned at the distal portion of the first catheter.
18. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine an offset between the EM sensor and the US transducer.
19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein a location of integration of the generated US images with the second 3D model is determined by the offset.
20. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the US transducer is positioned distal of the EM sensor.