Wireless 3D Surgical Navigation and Tracking System With 100μm Accuracy Using Magnetic-Field Gradient-Based...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Surgical Technology

Background:

• X-ray fluoroscopy is standard for surgical navigation but involves ionizing radiation.
• High-precision surgeries require accurate real-time tracking of instruments and implants.
• Existing non-ionizing tracking methods may lack sufficient accuracy or practicality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-resolution 3D navigation and tracking system.
• To replace X-ray fluoroscopy with a safer, magnetic field-based alternative.
• To achieve precise surgical navigation without ionizing radiation.

Main Methods:

• Creation of monotonically varying magnetic fields to generate unique spatial magnetic field gradients.
• Design of miniaturized, wireless, battery-less magnetic field sensing devices.
• Utilization of gradient in total field magnitude and combined gradients for unambiguous, orientation-independent spatial encoding.
• Fabrication of a prototype system using 65nm CMOS technology with planar electromagnetic coils for a scalable field-of-view (FOV).

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a localization accuracy of 1 mm in 3D space.
• Achieved unambiguous and orientation-independent spatial encoding.
• Developed a system with a scalable FOV (20x20x10 cm^3) and high FOV utilization (≥90%).
• The system enables simultaneous tracking of implants and surgical tools.

Conclusions:

• The magnetic gradient-based system offers a viable, high-accuracy, radiation-free alternative to X-ray fluoroscopy for surgical navigation.
• Miniaturized, wireless, battery-less sensors are feasible for in-vivo tracking.
• The developed technology has the potential to significantly enhance precision and safety in minimally invasive and complex surgeries.