Active ultrasound pattern injection system (AUSPIS) for interventional tool guidance

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Interventional Procedures
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Accurate tool tracking is vital for interventional medical procedure safety and effectiveness.
• Conventional ultrasound imaging presents challenges in surgical tool visualization and localization.
• Existing tracking methods do not fully meet clinical requirements for visualization and mid-plane accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an active ultrasound tracking and guiding system for interventional tools.
• To overcome limitations in surgical tool visualization and mid-plane localization accuracy in ultrasound.
• To enhance the safety and effectiveness of ultrasound-guided interventional procedures.

Main Methods:

• Established bi-directional ultrasound communication between the interventional tool and the ultrasound imaging machine.
• Developed time and frequency modulation techniques for active ultrasound field generation.
• Implemented mid-plane detection and arbitrary pattern injection into ultrasound B-mode display.

Main Results:

• Achieved significant improvements in tool visualization and accurate localization across different ultrasound platforms.
• Demonstrated ultrasound image mid-plane detection accuracy of ±0.3 mm.
• Successfully performed arbitrary pattern injection into B-mode images for enhanced tool tracking.

Conclusions:

• The active ultrasound system effectively improves interventional tool visualization and localization accuracy.
• The developed methods enhance guiding accuracy and expand applications beyond basic tool tracking.
• This system offers a promising solution for challenging ultrasound-guided interventions.