Navigation of tubular networks
US9727963B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 16, 2016 |
| Grant date | Aug 8, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30196
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses provide improved navigation through tubular networks such as lung airways by providing improved estimation of location and orientation information of a medical instrument (e.g., an endoscope) within the tubular network. Various input data such as image data, EM data, and robot data are used by different algorithms to estimate the state of the medical instrument, and the state information is used to locate a specific site within a tubular network and/or to determine navigation information for what positions/orientations the medical instrument should travel through to arrive at the specific site. Probability distributions together with confidence values are generated corresponding to different algorithms are used to determine the medical instrument's estimated state.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.