Systems and methods for using x-ray field emission to determine instrument position and orientation

1. A method, comprising:

determining a predicted pose of an elongate medical device within a patient anatomy using shape data from a shape sensor of the elongate medical device;

extracting a plurality of reference images from 3-D reference information, wherein the plurality of reference images includes a predicted reference image corresponding to the predicted pose of the elongate medical device;

capturing an x-ray image of the patient anatomy, wherein the captured x-ray image includes captured x-ray attenuation information;

searching the plurality of reference images for a closest matching reference image to the captured x-ray image; and

determining an offset between the captured x-ray image and the closest matching reference image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3-D reference information includes reference x-ray attenuation information, and wherein the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises comparing the captured x-ray attenuation information with the reference x-ray attenuation information.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an adjustment of the elongate medical device based on the determined offset.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

emitting, by an x-ray emission device of the elongate medical device, an x-ray beam, wherein the x-ray image is generated by the x-ray beam.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises:

determining a first search area including a subset of the plurality of reference images, wherein the first search area is based on the predicted reference image; and

comparing the captured x-ray image to the plurality of reference images within the first search area.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the comparing the captured x-ray image to the plurality of reference images comprises:

determining a second search area by enlarging the first search area when the captured x-ray image does not match one of the plurality of reference images in the first search area within a threshold; and

comparing the captured x-ray image to the plurality of reference images within the second search area.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises automatically searching, by a control system, for the closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises:

receiving, by a control system, a user input corresponding to a selection of the one of the plurality of reference images; and

determining a match between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images based on the received user input.

9. A system, comprising:

an elongate medical device configured to be inserted into a patient anatomy, the elongate medical device comprising:

a flexible body including a proximal portion and a distal portion; and

an x-ray emitter configured to emit an x-ray beam;

an x-ray emission detector configured to detect the x-ray beam emitted by the x-ray emitter; and

a control system configured to:

extract a plurality of reference images from 3-D reference information of the patient anatomy;

capture, by the x-ray emission detector, an x-ray image of the patient anatomy;

search for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and one of the plurality of reference images; and

determine an offset between the captured x-ray image and the closest matching reference image.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the x-ray emitter includes a carbon nanotube.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the x-ray emitter includes a plurality of field emission x-ray devices positioned within the distal portion of the flexible body.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the x-ray emitter includes a plurality of field emission x-ray devices positioned about a circumference of the flexible body.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of field emission x-ray devices are oriented to emit electrons along different intersecting beam paths.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the captured x-ray image includes captured x-ray attenuation information of the patient anatomy and the 3-D reference information includes reference x-ray attenuation information of the patient anatomy, and wherein searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises comparing the captured x-ray attenuation information with the reference x-ray attenuation information.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the elongate medical device further comprises at least one of a shape sensor or an EM sensor, and wherein the control system is further configured to determine a predicted pose of the elongate medical device using data from at least one of the shape sensor or the EM sensor.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein:

the plurality of reference images includes a predicted reference image corresponding to the predicted pose of the elongate medical device; and

the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images comprises determining a first search area including a subset of the plurality of reference images, the first search area being based on the predicted reference image.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the searching for a closest matching reference image between the captured x-ray image and the one of the plurality of reference images further comprises comparing the captured x-ray image to the plurality of reference images within the first search area.

18. The system of claim 9 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine a predicted pose of the elongate medical device by determining a predicted position of the elongate medical device using image data.

19. A method, comprising:

determining a predicted pose of an elongate medical device within a patient anatomy;

extracting a plurality of reference images from 3-D reference information, wherein the plurality of reference images includes a predicted reference image corresponding to the predicted pose of the elongate medical device;

emitting, by an x-ray emission device of the elongate medical device, an x-ray beam;

capturing an x-ray image of the patient anatomy, wherein the x-ray image is generated by the x-ray beam, and wherein the captured x-ray image includes captured x-ray attenuation information;

searching the plurality of reference images for a closest matching reference image to the captured x-ray image; and

determining an offset between the captured x-ray image and the closest matching reference image.