US 12,446,857 B2
Multiscale ultrasound tracking and display
Michael K. Southworth, St. Louis, MO (US); Christopher Michael Andrews, Chesterfield, MO (US); Ignacio Soriano, Madrid (ES); Alexander Bair Henry, St. Louis, MO (US); Jonathan R. Silva, St. Louis, MO (US); and Jennifer N. Avari Silva, St. Louis, MO (US)
Assigned to Excera Inc., Minneapolis, MN (US)
Filed by Excera Inc., Minneapolis, MN (US)
Filed on May 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/740,191.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/186,393, filed on May 10, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0354462 A1, Nov. 10, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 90/00 (2016.01)
CPC A61B 8/462 (2013.01) [A61B 8/463 (2013.01); A61B 8/468 (2013.01); A61B 8/469 (2013.01); A61B 2090/365 (2016.02)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving electromagnetic sensor data from a first electromagnetic sensor and a second electromagnetic sensor coupled to a head-mounted display (HMD) at a fixed distance apart, wherein the first electromagnetic sensor and the second electromagnetic sensor detect an electromagnetic field generated by an electromagnetic reference source coupled to an ultrasound probe;
receiving electromagnetic sensor data from a third electromagnetic sensor coupled to a medical instrument and detecting the electromagnetic field;
processing, by one or more processors, the electromagnetic sensor data from the first electromagnetic sensor and the second electromagnetic sensor to determine a position and orientation of the HMD relative to the ultrasound probe;
processing, by the one or more processors, the electromagnetic sensor data from the third electromagnetic sensor to determine a position of the medical instrument relative to the ultrasound probe;
providing a graphic for display by the HMD to a user wearing the HMD, the graphic including a visualization of a path of the medical instrument oriented relative to an ultrasound image plane and image data captured by the ultrasound probe displayed on the ultrasound image plane, wherein the visualization is generated based at least in part on the position and the orientation of the HMD and the position of the medical instrument, wherein the visualization is displayed with a color, and wherein the visualization assists the user with navigating the medical instrument to an intersection point on the ultrasound image plane;
displaying, by the HMD, a first indicator at a first distance from a second indicator, wherein the first distance is proportional to a second distance between a tip of the medical instrument and the intersection point, and wherein the first indicator and the second indicator are centered about the intersection point;
responsive to determining that the tip of the medical instrument is at the intersection point on the ultrasound image plane, displaying the first indicator and the second indicator at the intersection point; and
responsive to determining that the medical instrument has navigated past the intersection point on the ultrasound image plane, updating a portion of the visualization of the path past the intersection point to be displayed by the HMD with a different color.