Evaluation of a robotic arm for echocardiography to X-ray image registration during cardiac catheterization...

We present an initial evaluation of a robotic arm for positioning a 3D echo probe during cardiac catheterization procedures. By tracking the robotic arm, X-ray table and X-ray C-arm, we are able to register the 3D echo images with live 2D X-ray images. In addition, we can also use tracking data from the robotic arm combined with system calibrations to create extended field of view 3D echo images. Both these features can be used for roadmapping to guide cardiac catheterization procedures. We have carried out a validation experiment of our registration method using a cross-wire phantom. Results show our method to be accurate to 3.5 mm. We have successfully demonstrated the creation of the extended field of view data on 2 healthy volunteers and the registration of echo and X-ray data on 1 patient undergoing a pacing study.