A MINIATURIZED 6D POSITION LOCATOR FOR MEDICAL IMAGING

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP A MINIATURIZED SIX DEGREES-OF-FREEDOM (6D) TRACKING APPARATUS FOR USE WITH THREE DIMENSIONAL (3D) ULTRASOUND AND MEDICAL IMAGING EQUIPMENT. SUCH A TOOL COULD ENABLE CLINICIANS TO STUDY HUMAN ANATOMY AND BODILY FUNCTIONS IN THREE DIMENSIONS. IN PURSUIT OF THIS GOAL, RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HAVE BUILT A PROBE FOR 3-D TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY (TEE) AND COMPLETED A NUMBER OF INVESTIGATIONS WITH IT. THEIR WORK IS SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TO CONCLUDE THAT MANY IMAGING PROBLEMS COULD BE OVERCOME BY INTEGRATING A TINY 6D SPATIAL LOCATOR INTO A TEE PROBE. SUCH A DEVICE WOULD OPERATE ACCURATELY EVEN IN CLOSELY-CONFINED STAINLESS-STEEL ENVIRONMENTS. IT WOULD ENABLE ALIGNMENT OF IMAGES TAKEN FROM MULTIPLE PROBE POSITIONS, THUS FACILITATING RECONSTRUCTIONS AND FILLING IN DATA POTENTIALLY MISSED FROM ANY SINGLE POSTION. WE WILL DEVELOP A LAB-GRADE MODEL OF A MINIATURIZED THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSING APPARATUS WHICH WOULD BE INTEGRATED WITH A TEE PROBE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOR ANIMAL TESTING.