In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a system for performing arthrography, comprising a physical grid positioned on skin of a patient proximate a region of interest of a joint on which the arthrography is to be performed, and processing circuitry configured to receive medical images of the patient, the received medical images being acquired by a same imaging modality and having visible a portion of the physical grid, determine a trajectory between an entry point identified on the physical grid and a target point identified within the region of interest of the joint, and generate a target entry angle based on the determined trajectory between the identified entry point and the identified target point, wherein a needle guide device, configured to releasably-hold a needle, is positionable according to the identified entry point and target entry angle.

Disclosed herein are magnetically trackable stylets and methods thereof. A magnetically trackable stylet can include a stylet body including a core wire, a magnetic assembly, and an outer construction over the core wire and the magnetic assembly. The magnetic assembly can include one or more magnetic field-producing elements disposed alongside the core wire in a magnetically trackable distal portion of the stylet body. The outer construction, which can be an overmolded layer, a reflowed layer, a potting layer, or a shrink-wrapped layer, can be around the core wire and the magnetic assembly. The stylet body can be configured to be disposed in a lumen of a medical device such as a catheter for magnetically tracking a tip of the medical device in vivo without breakage of the stylet body due to bending-related fatigue. A method of such a magnetically trackable stylet can include a method of using the stylet.

Interventional localization guides and methods for MRI guided pelvic interventions are disclosed. The interventional localization guides can include a stereotactic perineum positioning device having integrated MR receive coil array and fiducial receive array. The interventional localization guide can also include a physical template for guiding a surgical device, such as a biopsy needle. In various instances, the MRI guided pelvic interventions including co-registering biopsy locations on third party MRI scans.

A system for robotic surgery makes use of an end-effector which has been configured so that a drill connected thereto is guided in its trajectory and limited in its advancement into an associated anatomical feature by a drill guide. The drill guide may be adjusted manually to engage a corresponding surface of the drill after its advancement by a pre-selected amount. The drill guide likewise includes features to guide the drill during trajectories having oblique angles relative to the surface of the anatomical feature associated with the medical procedure.

A method of making an intracorporeal marker, including the method steps of providing a core having a first material with porous hydroxyapatite; and completely covering the core an outer region having a second material with less porous hydroxyapatite, wherein ultrasonic or radiative imaging reveals a difference between the marker and tissue.

A tracking system for tracking a marker device for being attached to a medical device is provided, whereby the marker device includes a sensing unit comprising a magnetic object which may be excited by an external magnetic or electromagnetic excitation field into a mechanical oscillation of the magnetic object, and the tracking system comprises a field generator for generating a predetermined magnetic or electromagnetic excitation field for inducing mechanical oscillations of the magnetic object, a transducer for transducing a magnetic or electromagnetic field generated by the induced mechanical oscillations of the magnetic object into one or more electrical response signals, and a position determination unit for determining the position of the marker device on the basis of the one or more electrical response signals.

A stretch-measurement probe includes an elongate outer sleeve, expansion feature associated with a distal portion of the outer sleeve, and an elongate inner rod disposed at least partially within the outer sleeve. The expansion feature is configured to allow a longitudinal distance between a proximal end of the outer sleeve and the distal end of the outer sleeve to be varied.

During both invasive and non-invasive treatments and therapies, health professionals need to accurately locate areas of interest. Inaccuracies may mean that not all the area is treated, or the treatment is incomplete. Electro-magnetic and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) markers have been developed, but these are bulky and prone to failure. For example, any inaccuracy may result in an incomplete resection or removal of the lesion, requiring additional treatments.

A magnetic field probe 100, 101 is provided for determining an angular disposition 180, 190 of an implantable magnetic marker 200, the probe comprising: a first magnetic sensor 110 close to the distal end 160, and a second magnetic sensor 120, closer to a proximal end 165, configured to determine two or more magnetic field vectors of the marker 200; the probe being further configured: to define two or more marker detection zones 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, extending from the distal end 160; to determine the angular disposition 180, 190 to the implantable marker 200; and to determine whether the angular disposition 180, 190 substantially coincides with one of the two or more marker detection zones 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, thereby determining that the marker falls within the one marker detection zones.

By defining two or more marker detection zones, and configuring the probe to determine whether the magnetic marker appears to be within the one marker detection zone, a simplified and intuitive decision algorithm is provided for indicating the disposition of the marker relative to the probe.

Markers for use in bodily tissue take a variety of forms, and may include a plurality of ultrasound reflective elements, for example hollow shells filled with air, and a hydrogel that binds the ultrasound reflective elements. The hydrogel may be natural or artificial and may be cross-linked. An ultrasound system advantageously injects variance in a drive signal, that varies a frequency or phase of an ultrasound interrogation signal from a nominal frequency or nominal phase. The amount of variation is preferable one to six orders of magnitude less than the nominal frequency or phase. The ultrasound system can present or detect a twinkling artifact at least in a Doppler mode of operation, resulting from interaction of the varying interrogation signal with the ultrasound reflective elements.

In one embodiment, a system includes a catheter, at least one position sensor to provide position signal(s) indicative of a position of a distal end of the catheter over time, a first smoothing filter to provide first filtered position signal(s) responsively to the position signal(s) and a first filtering level, a second smoothing filter to provide second filtered position signal(s) responsively to the position signal(s) and a second filtering level, wherein the second filtering level provides more smoothing than the first filtering level, and processing circuitry to find first and second position coordinates of the distal end responsively to the first and second filtered position signal(s), respectively, generate, and render to a display, an anatomical map of a body part responsively to the second position coordinates, and render a representation of the distal end to the display while showing movement of the distal end responsively to the first position coordinates.