Catheter position tracking system using planar magnetics and closed loop current control

This paper presents an electromagnetic system for five degrees of freedom position and orientation sensing with application in a virtual bronchoscopy system. Planar magnetic source coils were manufactured on printed circuit boards for reproducibility and low-cost manufacturing. The exact magnetic field of each coil is calculated using a filament-based approach. A constant ac current amplifier is used to drive each coil at an independent frequency and a synchronous demodulator calculates each associated magnetic field component using the current waveform as a reference signal. Commercially available search coil sensors are used and a comparison between shielded and unshielded probes is presented. Extensive testing with two separate methods has shown the accuracy of the system to be between 1 and 2 mm. The use of a novel closed loop coil driver has been found to offer excellent magnetic field stability and significant reduction in crosstalk interference.