Distortion fingerprinting for EM tracking compensation, detection and error correction

1. A system for accounting for electromagnetic (EM) distortion with an EM tracking system, comprising:

a sensor array configured to sense EM energy in a target volume; and

an EM sensing correction module configured to analyze data from the sensor array to detect and identify EM distorters including untracked EM distorters in the target volume, the EM sensing correction module further configured to compare distortion fingerprints stored in a database that are correlated with identities of known objects to identify a distortion source.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a robot configured to move in a region associated with the target volume to measure or determine changes to an EM field.

3. The system as recited in claim 2 , wherein the robot includes a tracking device to determine its position and orientation.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the database is constructed by characterizing a plurality of distortion morphologies associated with tools, devices and combinations thereof.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the sensor array intra-operatively measures EM error and the EM sensing correction module generates error maps.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the EM sensing correction module estimates error contribution by distorters and identifies the distorter and its position based by comparing measured error with a baseline reference.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the EM sensing correction module identifies an unknown source of distortion by comparing a distortion source to known distortion morphologies in the database.

8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the EM sensing correction module estimates an error contribution by distorters and compensates for the error to improve EM tracking accuracy.

9. A system for accounting for electromagnetic (EM) distortion with an EM tracking system, comprising:

a database constructed by storing a plurality of characterized distortion morphologies associated with tools, devices and combinations thereof that cause distortions to an EM field wherein said characterized distortion morphologies represent distortion fingerprints associated with the tools, devices and combinations thereof;

a sensor array configured to intra-operatively sense EM energy in a target volume; and

an EM sensing correction module configured to analyze data from the sensor array to detect and identify EM distorters including untracked EM distorters in the target volume, the EM sensing correction module further configured to compare distortion fingerprints stored in the database that are correlated with identities of known objects to identify a distortion source, the EM sensing correction module configured to output one or more of a position and orientation of a distorter, an error map showing error introduced by a distorter or an identification of an unknown distorter.

10. The system as recited in claim 9 , further comprising a robot configured to move in a region associated with the target volume to measure or determine changes to an EM field.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the robot includes a tracking device to determine its position and orientation.

12. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the sensor array intra-operatively measures EM error and the EM sensing correction module generates error maps.

13. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the EM sensing correction module estimates an error contribution by distorters and identifies the distorter and its position based by comparing measured error with a baseline reference.

14. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the EM sensing correction module identifies an unknown source of distortion by comparing a distortion source to known distortion morphologies in the database.

15. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the EM sensing correction module estimates an error contribution by distorters and compensates for the error to improve EM tracking accuracy.

16. A method for accounting for electromagnetic (EM) distortion with an EM tracking system, comprising:

measuring EM errors using a sensor array configured to sense EM energy in a target volume;

comparing distortion fingerprints stored in a database that are correlated with identities of known objects to identify a distortion source including untracked EM distorters by analyzing data from the sensor array in the target volume; and

outputting one or more of a position and orientation of a distorter, an error map showing error introduced by a distorter or an identification of an unknown distorter.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising measuring changes to an EM field due to a distorter configured to move in a region associated with the target volume.

18. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising constructing the database by characterizing a plurality of distortion morphologies associated with tools, devices and combinations thereof.

19. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein outputting includes generating an error map intra-operatively to identify regions of low and high error measurements in the target volume.

20. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein outputting includes estimating an error contribution by distorters and identifying the distorter and its position based by comparing measured error with a baseline reference.

21. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein outputting includes identifying an unknown source of distortion by comparing a distortion source to known distortion morphologies in the database.

22. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein outputting includes estimating an error contribution by distorters and compensating for the error to improve EM tracking accuracy.