Controlled constant current systems, devices, components and methods for navigating, positioning, and/or imaging a medical device inside a patient's body

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, components, devices and methods for determining locations of or imaging a catheter or other type of medical device inside a patient's body as the catheter or other type of medical device is navigated or positioned therein. In some embodiments, controlled constant current signals are transmitted through body surface electrodes into the patient's body for reception and sensing by one or more electrodes disposed on the catheter or other type of medical device as sensed electrical signals, which are then converted into sensed electrical signal values. In one embodiment, a volume of voxels is generated by one or more computing devices that corresponds to at least a portion of the patient's body where the catheter or other type of medical device is to be navigated, positioned or imaged. For at least some of the voxels, expected electrical signal values corresponding to the voxels are generated by the one or more computing devices. For corresponding given periods of time, a sequence of three-dimensional locations of the catheter or other type of medical device inside the patient's body is then determined and generated by the one or more computing devices on the basis of the sensed electrical signal values and the expected electrical signal values corresponding thereto. In another embodiment, expected signal values are not generated, and instead optimization problems are computed and solved to determine the three-dimensional locations of the catheter or other type of medical device inside the patient's body.