TY - JOUR
T1 - Looking beyond the imaging plane
T2 - 3D needle tracking with a linear array ultrasound probe
AU - Xia, Wenfeng
AU - West, Simeon J.
AU - Finlay, Malcolm C.
AU - Mari, Jean Martial
AU - Ourselin, Sebastien
AU - David, Anna L.
AU - Desjardins, Adrien E.
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Ultrasound is well suited for guiding many minimally invasive procedures, but its use is often precluded by the poor visibility of medical devices. When devices are not visible, they can damage critical structures, with life-threatening complications. Here, we developed the first ultrasound probe that comprises both focused and unfocused transducer elements to provide both 2D B-mode ultrasound imaging and 3D ultrasonic needle tracking. A fibre-optic hydrophone was integrated into a needle to receive Golay-coded transmissions from the probe and these data were processed to obtain tracking images of the needle tip. The measured tracking accuracy in water was better than 0.4 mm in all dimensions. To demonstrate the clinical potential of this system, insertions were performed into the spine and the uterine cavity, in swine and pregnant ovine models in vivo. In both models, the SNR ranged from 13 to 38 at depths of 22 to 38 mm, at out-of-plane distances of 1 to 15 mm, and at insertion angles of 33 to 42 degrees relative to the probe surface normal. This novel ultrasound imaging/tracking probe has strong potential to improve procedural outcomes by providing 3D needle tip locations that are co-registered to ultrasound images, while maintaining compatibility with current clinical workflow.
AB - Ultrasound is well suited for guiding many minimally invasive procedures, but its use is often precluded by the poor visibility of medical devices. When devices are not visible, they can damage critical structures, with life-threatening complications. Here, we developed the first ultrasound probe that comprises both focused and unfocused transducer elements to provide both 2D B-mode ultrasound imaging and 3D ultrasonic needle tracking. A fibre-optic hydrophone was integrated into a needle to receive Golay-coded transmissions from the probe and these data were processed to obtain tracking images of the needle tip. The measured tracking accuracy in water was better than 0.4 mm in all dimensions. To demonstrate the clinical potential of this system, insertions were performed into the spine and the uterine cavity, in swine and pregnant ovine models in vivo. In both models, the SNR ranged from 13 to 38 at depths of 22 to 38 mm, at out-of-plane distances of 1 to 15 mm, and at insertion angles of 33 to 42 degrees relative to the probe surface normal. This novel ultrasound imaging/tracking probe has strong potential to improve procedural outcomes by providing 3D needle tip locations that are co-registered to ultrasound images, while maintaining compatibility with current clinical workflow.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85020940348&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-017-03886-4
DO - 10.1038/s41598-017-03886-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85020940348
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 7
SP - 2380
EP - 2296
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 3674
ER -