JP7074813B2 - Electromagnetic navigation antenna assembly and electromagnetic navigation system including it - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to antenna assemblies for electromagnetic navigation and methods for designing such antenna assemblies. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an antenna assembly for radiating an electromagnetic field for electromagnetic navigation, an electromagnetic navigation system including such an antenna assembly, and a computer mounting method for designing such an antenna assembly.

Electromagnetic (EM) navigation (EMN) allows the location and / or orientation of a medical device to be accurately determined while it is inside the patient's body. Helps expand diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic capabilities. An example of a medical procedure in which EMN is used is ELECTROMAGNETIC, which includes a planning stage and a navigation stage.
NAVIGATION BRONCHOSCOPY (registered trademark) (ENB (trademark)). During the planning phase, a computerized tomography (CT) scan of the patient's chest is used to generate a virtual three-dimensional bronchial map of the patient and a planned route for the navigation phase. During the navigation phase, the antenna assembly radiates an electromagnetic field across the patient's chest, the practitioner inserts an electromagnetic sensor into the patient's airway to detect the radiated electromagnetic field, and the computing device detects it. The location and / or orientation (eg, with respect to the planned path) of the electromagnetic sensor is determined based on the characteristics of the electromagnetic field.

Detailed mappings of field measurements at each sensor location are generated to allow accurate determination of sensor location and / or orientation. However, the generation of such mappings is a laborious and time-consuming process that may require expensive machinery, precision electromagnetics at many (eg, hundreds of thousands or more) locations within the predicted electromagnetic volume. It is necessary to make a field measurement.

The load of field mapping generation increases in situations where multiple antenna assemblies are used. For example, a single coil electromagnetic wave to allow the electromagnetic sensor to reach deeper parts of the patient's body and / or stay in the body during subsequent medical procedures without interfering with additional medical devices. It may be desirable to use a small electromagnetic sensor such as a sensor. However, due to the use of small electromagnetic sensors for EMN while maintaining the ability to determine the multi-degree of freedom (eg, 6 degrees of freedom) of the sensor, multiple antenna assemblies will be detected, radiated. May be needed to increase the number of electromagnetic fields. In such cases, the exhaustive mapping procedure described above may need to be performed for each antenna assembly design. Moreover, given potential changes from manufacturing, the mapping procedure may even need to be completed for each instance of a particular antenna assembly design (ie, each manufactured antenna assembly).

Considering the above, there is a need for an improved electromagnetic navigation antenna assembly and a method for designing such an antenna assembly.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an antenna assembly for radiating at least one electromagnetic field for electromagnetic navigation is provided. The antenna assembly includes a substrate and a planar antenna including traces deposited on the substrate and arranged in a plurality of loops. Each distance between adjacent loop pairs increases in the direction from the innermost loop to the outermost loop.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices. For example, in some embodiments, each of the loops comprises four linear linear portions and four vertices.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, each of the vertices is arranged along one of the four diagonals that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the planar antenna.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the antenna assembly further comprises a connector having at least two terminals, the trace having two ends each connected to the two terminals.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the antenna assembly comprises a plurality of planar antennas, each of which comprises a trace deposited on a substrate and placed within each loop set. For each of the planar antennas, the respective distance between the loop pairs of the respective planar antennas increases in the direction from the innermost loop to the outermost loop.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the substrate comprises multiple layers and planar antennas, each of which is deposited on one of each of the layers.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the planar antenna has its own center of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrates arranged at different positions from each other.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electromagnetic navigation system is provided. The system includes an antenna assembly, an alternating current (AC) current driver that drives the antenna assembly, a catheter, an electromagnetic sensor, a processor, and a memory. The antenna assembly includes a substrate and a planar antenna and is configured to radiate an electromagnetic field. The planar antenna contains traces that are deposited on the substrate and placed in multiple loops. Each distance between adjacent loop pairs increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the loop to the outermost loop of the loop. The electromagnetic sensor is fixed to the catheter and is configured to receive a signal based on the radiated electromagnetic field. The memory contains instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to calculate at least one of the location and / or orientation of the electromagnetic sensor based on the signal received.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices. For example, in some embodiments, each of the loops comprises four linear linear portions and four vertices.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, each of the vertices is arranged along one of the four diagonals that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the planar antenna.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the antenna assembly further comprises a connector having at least two terminals, the trace having two ends each connected to the two terminals.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the antenna assembly comprises a plurality of planar antennas, each of which is a trace deposited on a substrate and disposed within its respective loop set. include. For each of the planar antennas, the respective distance between adjacent loop pairs increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the loops of the respective planar antenna to the outermost loop of the loops.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the substrate comprises multiple layers, each of which is a planar antenna deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each loop of a planar antenna comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of centers of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrate arranged at different positions from each other.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an antenna assembly for radiating multiple electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation is provided. The antenna assembly includes a substrate and a plurality of planar antenna groups. The substrate contains multiple layers, each of which contains a trace of each of the planar antennas, which is deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and located within each number of loops. Each of the planar antenna groups includes a first planar antenna, a second planar antenna, and a third planar antenna. For each of the planar antenna groups, (1) the innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion approximately perpendicular to the first linear portion. (2) The innermost loop of the second planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially parallel to the first linear portion and is longer than the first linear portion. (3) The innermost loop of the third planar antenna has a first linear part and a second linear part that is substantially parallel to the first linear part and longer than the first linear part. (4) The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. , (5) The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, for each of the planar antennas, the respective distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. do.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the innermost loops of each of the first planar antennas of each group are positioned on each layer of the plurality of layers at different angles from each other.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, for each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is a four diagonal line that bisects each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of antennas. It is arranged along one of them.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold or less.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the planar antennas have their respective centers of gravity relative to different planes of the substrate.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the number of planar antenna groups is at least three.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the antenna assembly further comprises a connector having a plurality of terminals, each of the respective traces of the plurality of planar antennas being coupled to the respective terminal of the plurality of terminals.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electromagnetic navigation system including an antenna assembly, a catheter, an electromagnetic sensor, a processor, and a memory is provided. The antenna assembly is configured to radiate an electromagnetic field and includes a substrate and a plurality of planar antenna groups. The substrate contains multiple layers, each of which contains a trace of each of the planar antennas, which is deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and located within each number of loops. Each of the planar antenna groups includes a first planar antenna, a second planar antenna, and a third planar antenna. For each of the plurality of planar antenna groups, (1) the innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion. (2) The innermost loop of the second planar antenna is the first linear part and the second linear part that is substantially parallel to the first linear part and is longer than the first linear part. And (3) the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is a second linear portion that is approximately perpendicular to the first linear portion and longer than the first linear portion. (4) The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. (5) The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. The electromagnetic sensor is fixed to the catheter and is configured to receive one or more signals based on the radiated electromagnetic field. The memory contains instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to calculate at least one of the location and / or orientation of the electromagnetic sensor based on the signal received.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, for each of the planar antennas, the respective distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. do.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the innermost loops of each of the first planar antennas of each group are positioned on each layer of the plurality of layers at different angles from each other.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, for each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is a four diagonal line that bisects each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of antennas. It is arranged along one of them.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold or less.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of respective centers of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrate, which are different from each other.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the number of planar antenna groups is at least three.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the electromagnetic navigation system further comprises a connector having a plurality of terminals, each of the respective traces of the plurality of planar antennas being coupled to the respective terminal of the plurality of terminals.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer mounting method for designing an antenna assembly for radiating multiple electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation. The method comprises calculating each of a plurality of diagonal lines based on a seed rectangle having a plurality of vertices for a coordinate system of a substrate having a boundary. The plurality of diagonals divide the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle into two, and extend from the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundaries. The method is also to determine, for each of the plurality of diagonals, (1) a plurality of distances between a plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs located along each diagonal, the plurality of distances. It also includes determining to increase in the direction of the boundary from each vertex of the seed rectangle, and (2) positioning the planar antenna vertices along their respective diagonals based on the determined distances. The planar antenna layout is generated by interconnecting the planar antenna vertices with their respective linear linear portions, forming multiple loops that sequentially traverse each of the plurality of diagonals.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the distances are determined at least partially based on a predetermined number of loops of a planar antenna.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the distances are determined at least in part based on a predetermined minimum distance between adjacent vertices and / or a predetermined minimum distance between adjacent traces.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the substrate has a plurality of layers, further comprising the method of producing a plurality of planar antenna layouts corresponding to the plurality of layers, respectively.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the computer mounting method adds to the planar antenna layout a plurality of linear linear portions routed from at least two of the planar antenna vertices to the location of the connector relative to the substrate coordinate system. Further includes doing.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the computer implementation method further comprises calculating the layout distance between each vertex of the seed rectangle and the boundary along each diagonal for each of the plurality of diagonals. Determining each of the multiple distances between adjacent plane antenna vertex pairs is at least partially based on the calculated layout distance.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of planar antenna vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the outermost planar antenna vertices of the plurality of planar antenna vertices are separated from the boundaries of the substrate by a predetermined threshold or less.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the computer mounting method further comprises exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to at least one of a circuit board routing tool and / or a circuit board manufacturing tool.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the computer implementation method exports the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to an electromagnetic simulation tool and, based on the exported data, a plurality of linear forms of the planar antenna layout. Further includes simulating each of the electromagnetic fields based on the superposition of multiple electromagnetic field components from the linear portion of.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer readable that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method of designing an antenna assembly for radiating electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation. The medium is provided. The method comprises calculating each of a plurality of diagonal lines based on a seed rectangle having a plurality of vertices for a coordinate system of a substrate having a boundary. The plurality of diagonals divide the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle into two, and extend from the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundaries. The methods are, for each of the plurality of diagonals, (1) determining the respective distances between the plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs positioned along each diagonal, and (2) the determined plurality. Further includes positioning the planar antenna vertices along their respective diagonals based on the distance of. Multiple distances increase in the direction from each vertex of the seed rectangle to the boundary. The planar antenna layout is generated by interconnecting the planar antenna vertices with their respective linear linear portions, forming multiple loops that sequentially traverse each of the plurality of diagonals.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the distances are determined at least partially based on a predetermined number of loops of a planar antenna.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the distances are determined at least in part based on a predetermined minimum distance between adjacent vertices and / or a predetermined minimum distance between adjacent traces.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the substrate has a plurality of layers, further comprising the method of producing a plurality of planar antenna layouts corresponding to the plurality of layers, respectively.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the method is to add to the planar antenna layout a plurality of linear linear portions routed from at least two of the planar antenna vertices to the location of the connector relative to the substrate coordinate system. Further includes.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the method further comprises calculating, for each of the plurality of diagonals, the layout distance between each vertex of the seed rectangle and the boundary along each diagonal. Determining each of the multiple distances between a pair of planar antenna vertices is at least partially based on the calculated layout distance.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, each of the loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of planar antenna vertices.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the outermost planar antenna vertices of the plurality of planar antenna vertices are separated from the boundaries of the substrate by a predetermined threshold or less.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the method further comprises exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to at least one of a circuit board routing tool and / or a circuit board manufacturing tool.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the method exports the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to an electromagnetic simulation tool and, based on the exported data, a plurality of linear alignments of the planar antenna layout. It further includes simulating each electromagnetic field based on the superposition of multiple electromagnetic field components from the portion.

Any of the above embodiments and embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The present specification also provides, for example, the following items.
(Item 1)
An antenna assembly for radiating at least one electromagnetic field for electromagnetic navigation.
With the board
It comprises a planar antenna, including traces deposited on the substrate and placed in a plurality of loops.
An antenna assembly in which the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. ..
(Item 2)
The antenna assembly according to item 1, wherein each of the plurality of loops includes a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 3)
The antenna assembly according to item 2, wherein each of the plurality of loops includes four linear linear portions and four vertices.
(Item 4)
The antenna assembly according to item 3, wherein each of the plurality of vertices is arranged along one of four diagonal lines that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the planar antenna. ..
(Item 5)
Further equipped with a connector having at least two terminals,
The antenna assembly of item 1, wherein each trace has two ends connected to the two terminals.
(Item 6)
With multiple planar antennas
Each of the plurality of planar antennas comprises a trace of each deposited on the substrate and placed in each of the plurality of loops.
For each of the plurality of planar antennas, the respective distances between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops are such that each of the plurality of the innermost loops of the plurality of loops of the respective planar antennas. The antenna assembly according to item 1, which increases in the direction toward the outermost loop of the loops of.
(Item 7)
Item 6. The antenna assembly according to item 6, wherein the substrate includes a plurality of layers and the planar antenna, and each of the plurality of planar antennas is deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers.
(Item 8)
6. The antenna assembly according to item 6, wherein each of the planar antenna and the plurality of planar antennas includes the same number of loops.
(Item 9)
The antenna assembly according to item 6, wherein each of the loops of each of the plurality of planar antennas comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 10)
Item 6. The antenna assembly according to item 6, wherein the planar antenna and the plurality of planar antennas each have a plurality of centers of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrate arranged at different positions from each other.
(Item 11)
It ’s an electromagnetic navigation system.
An antenna assembly configured to radiate electromagnetic fields.
With the board
It comprises a planar antenna, including traces deposited on the substrate and placed in a plurality of loops.
An antenna assembly in which the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops increases in the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. When,
With a catheter,
An electromagnetic sensor fixed to the catheter and configured to receive a signal based on the radiated electromagnetic field.
With the processor
An electromagnetic navigation system comprising a memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to calculate at least one of the locations or orientations of the electromagnetic sensor based on the received signal.
(Item 12)
11. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 11, wherein each of the plurality of loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 13)
The electromagnetic navigation system of item 12, wherein each of the plurality of loops comprises four linear linear portions and four vertices.
(Item 14)
13. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 13, wherein each of the plurality of vertices is disposed along one of four diagonals that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the planar antenna. ..
(Item 15)
The antenna assembly
Further equipped with a connector having at least two terminals,
11. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 11, wherein each trace has two ends connected to the two terminals.
(Item 16)
The antenna assembly
With multiple planar antennas
Each of the plurality of planar antennas comprises a trace of each deposited on the substrate and placed in each of the plurality of loops.
For each of the plurality of planar antennas, the respective distances between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops are such that each of the plurality of the innermost loops of the plurality of loops of the respective planar antennas. 11. The electromagnetic navigation system according to item 11, which increases in the direction of the outermost loop of the loops.
(Item 17)
16. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 16, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of layers and the planar antenna, each of the plurality of planar antennas being deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers.
(Item 18)
16. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 16, wherein each of the planar antenna and the plurality of planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.
(Item 19)
16. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 16, wherein each of the loops of each of the plurality of planar antennas comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 20)
Item 16. The electromagnetic navigation system according to item 16, wherein the planar antenna and the plurality of planar antennas each have a plurality of centers of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrate arranged at different positions from each other.
(Item 21)
A computer implementation method for designing an antenna assembly for radiating electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation.
It is to calculate a plurality of diagonal lines based on a seed rectangle having a plurality of vertices with respect to the coordinate system of the substrate having a boundary.
It is calculated that the plurality of diagonal lines divide the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle into two, and extend from the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundary, respectively.
For each of the plurality of diagonals
Each of the plurality of distances between a plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs positioned along the respective diagonal lines is to be determined such that the plurality of distances are from the respective vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundary. Increasing in direction, making decisions,
Positioning the planar antenna vertices along the respective diagonals based on the determined distances,
A computer comprising interconnecting the planar antenna vertices with their respective linear linear portions to generate a planar antenna layout to form multiple loops sequentially traversing each of the plurality of diagonals. How to implement.
(Item 22)
21. The computer implementation method of item 21, wherein the plurality of distances are determined at least partially based on a predetermined number of loops of the planar antenna.
(Item 23)
21. The computer implementation method of item 21, wherein the plurality of distances are determined based at least in part on at least one of a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent vertices or a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent traces. ..
(Item 24)
The computer mounting method according to item 21, wherein the substrate has a plurality of layers, and the method further comprises generating a plurality of planar antenna layouts corresponding to the plurality of layers.
(Item 25)
Item 21 further comprises adding to the planar antenna layout a plurality of linear linear portions routed from at least two of the planar antenna vertices to the location of the connector to the coordinate system of the substrate. The computer mounting method described.
(Item 26)
For each of the plurality of diagonals
Further comprising calculating the layout distance between the respective vertices of the seed rectangle and the boundaries along the respective diagonals.
21. The computer implementation method of item 21, wherein determining each of the plurality of distances between the plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs is at least partially based on the calculated layout distance.
(Item 27)
The computer mounting method according to item 21, wherein each of the plurality of loops includes the plurality of the linear linear portions and the plurality of the planar antenna vertices.
(Item 28)
The computer mounting method according to item 21, wherein the outermost planar antenna apex among the plurality of planar antenna vertices is separated from the boundary of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less.
(Item 29)
21. The computer mounting method of item 21, further comprising exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to at least one of a circuit board routing tool or a circuit board manufacturing tool.
(Item 30)
Exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to the electromagnetic simulation tool and
An item further comprising simulating an electromagnetic field based on the superposition of a plurality of electromagnetic field components from the plurality of linear linear portions of the planar antenna layout based on the exported data. 21. The computer mounting method.
(Item 31)
A non-temporary computer-readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method of designing an antenna assembly for radiating electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation, wherein the method is ,
It is to calculate a plurality of diagonal lines based on a seed rectangle having a plurality of vertices with respect to the coordinate system of the substrate having a boundary.
It is calculated that the plurality of diagonal lines divide the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle into two and extend from the plurality of vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundary.
For each of the plurality of diagonals
Each of the plurality of distances between a plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs positioned along the respective diagonal lines is to be determined such that the plurality of distances are from the respective vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundary. Increasing in direction, making decisions,
Positioning the planar antenna vertices along the respective diagonals based on the determined distances,
Non-compliance, including generating a planar antenna layout by interconnecting the planar antenna vertices with their respective linear linear portions to form multiple loops sequentially traversing each of the plurality of diagonals. Temporary computer readable medium.
(Item 32)
31. The non-temporary computer-readable medium of item 31, wherein the plurality of distances are determined at least in part based on a predetermined number of loops of the planar antenna.
(Item 33)
31. Non-temporary item 31, wherein the plurality of distances are determined on the basis of at least one of a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent vertices or a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent traces. Computer-readable medium.
(Item 34)
31. The non-temporary computer-readable medium of item 31, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of layers, wherein the method further comprises producing a plurality of planar antenna layouts corresponding to the plurality of layers.
(Item 35)
The above method
Item 31 further comprises adding to the planar antenna layout a plurality of linear linear portions routed from at least two of the planar antenna vertices to the location of the connector to the coordinate system of the substrate. The non-temporary computer-readable medium described.
(Item 36)
The above method
For each of the plurality of diagonals
Further comprising calculating the layout distance between the respective vertices of the seed rectangle and the boundaries along the respective diagonals.
31. The non-temporary computer-readable medium of item 31, wherein determining each of the plurality of distances between the plurality of adjacent planar antenna vertex pairs is at least partially based on the calculated layout distance.
(Item 37)
31. The non-temporary computer-readable medium of item 31, wherein each of the loops comprises a plurality of the linear linear portions and a plurality of the planar antenna vertices.
(Item 38)
The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to item 31, wherein the outermost planar antenna apex of the plurality of planar antenna vertices is separated from the boundary of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less.
(Item 39)
The above method
31. The non-temporary computer-readable medium of item 31, further comprising exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to at least one of a circuit board routing tool or a circuit board manufacturing tool.
(Item 40)
The above method
Exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to the electromagnetic simulation tool and
An item further comprising simulating an electromagnetic field based on the superposition of a plurality of electromagnetic field components from the plurality of linear linear portions of the planar antenna layout based on the exported data. 31. Non-temporary computer readable medium.
(Item 41)
An antenna assembly for radiating multiple electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation.
A substrate with multiple layers and
A group of planar antennas, wherein each of the planar antennas includes a trace deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and arranged in each of the plurality of loops. Each comprises a plurality of planar antenna groups, including a first planar antenna, a second planar antenna, and a third planar antenna.
For each of the plurality of planar antenna groups,
The innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion.
The innermost loop of the second planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and longer than the first linear portion. death,
The innermost loop of the third planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and longer than the first linear portion. death,
The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna.
An antenna set in which the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. Solid.
(Item 42)
For each of the planar antennas, the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops is the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. 41. The antenna assembly according to item 41, which is increased in.
(Item 43)
41. The antenna assembly of item 41, wherein the innermost loops of each of the first planar antennas in each group are located on the respective layers of the plurality of layers at different angles from each other. ..
(Item 44)
41. The antenna assembly of item 41, wherein each of the plurality of loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 45)
For each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is among the four diagonal lines that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas. 44. The antenna assembly according to item 44, which is arranged along one.
(Item 46)
44. The antenna assembly according to item 44, wherein the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less.
(Item 47)
The antenna assembly according to item 41, wherein the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of respective centers of gravity with respect to the planes of the substrate different from each other.
(Item 48)
41. The antenna assembly of item 41, wherein each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops. (Item 49)
The antenna assembly according to item 41, wherein the plurality of groups has at least three numbers.
(Item 50)
Further equipped with a connector with multiple terminals,
The antenna assembly according to item 41, wherein each of the respective traces of the plurality of planar antennas is connected to each terminal of the plurality of terminals.
(Item 51)
It ’s an electromagnetic navigation system.
An antenna assembly configured to radiate electromagnetic fields.
A substrate with multiple layers and
A plurality of planar antennas, each of which is a group of planar antennas, each of which comprises a trace deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and disposed within each of the plurality of loops. Including the group,
Each of the planar antenna groups includes a first planar antenna, a second planar antenna, and a third planar antenna.
For each of the plurality of planar antenna groups,
The innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion.
The innermost loop of the second planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and longer than the first linear portion. death,
The innermost loop of the third planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and longer than the first linear portion. death,
The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna.
An antenna set in which the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. 3D and
With a catheter,
An electromagnetic sensor fixed to the catheter and configured to receive one or more signals based on the radiated electromagnetic field.
With the processor
When executed by the processor, the processor comprises a memory containing an instruction to calculate at least one of the locations or orientations of the electromagnetic sensor based on the one or more received signals. Electromagnetic navigation system.
(Item 52)
For each of the planar antennas, the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops is the direction from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. 51. The electromagnetic navigation system according to item 51, which increases in.
(Item 53)
51. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 51, wherein the innermost loops of each of the first planar antennas in each group are positioned on the respective layers of the plurality of layers at different angles from each other. ..
(Item 54)
51. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 51, wherein each of the plurality of loops comprises a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices.
(Item 55)
For each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is out of four diagonal lines that bisect each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas. 54. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 54, arranged along one.
(Item 56)
54. The electromagnetic navigation system according to item 54, wherein the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less.
(Item 57)
51. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 51, wherein the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of respective centers of gravity with respect to different planes of the substrate.
(Item 58)
51. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 51, wherein each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops.
(Item 59)
51. The electromagnetic navigation system according to item 51, wherein the plurality of groups has at least three numbers.
(Item 60)
Further equipped with a connector with multiple terminals,
51. The electromagnetic navigation system of item 51, wherein each of the respective traces of the plurality of planar antennas is coupled to a respective terminal of the plurality of terminals.

The patent or application file contains at least one colored drawing. A copy of this patent or publication of a patent application, including colored drawings, will be provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office upon request and payment of the required fees.

The purpose and features of the systems and methods of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of skill in the art by reading the description of the various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of an electromagnetic navigation (EMN) system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. An example of designing an antenna assembly for an EMN system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. It is a flowchart which illustrates an example of the procedure for designing an antenna assembly by embodiment of this disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of the graphic representation of a certain aspect of the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. It is an example of a plurality of examples of an antenna that can be designed by the procedure of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. An example of the design of the loop antenna layout trace arrangement according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example computing device for use in various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure relates to an antenna assembly for radiating an electromagnetic field for electromagnetic navigation, an electromagnetic navigation system including such an antenna assembly, and a computer mounting method for designing such an antenna assembly. In one example, due to the geometry and other aspects of the antenna assembly herein, the need for detailed electromagnetic field mapping generation and adoption is instead theoretically calculated based on the characteristics of the antenna assembly. The electromagnetic field mapping can be avoided by allowing it to be employed alone or in combination with the more easily generated low density field mappings obtained from the measurements. In other words, the antenna assembly herein is an accurate, high-density theoretical electromagnetic field for EMN without the need to use expensive measuring equipment and to make time-consuming and labor-intensive measurements. It can serve as the basis for generating field mappings.

In another example, the antenna assembly herein has different geometries that allow multiple degrees of freedom (eg, 6 degrees of freedom) of a small electromagnetic sensor, such as a single coil sensor, to be determined. Includes multiple planar antennas on a single substrate with characteristics such as shape and / or relative position.

In yet another example, the antenna assembly herein comprises a trace that is deposited on a layer of substrate and forms multiple loops with spacing between loops and spacing from the boundaries or edges of the substrate. As a result of efficient use of the available area of the substrate.

In a further example, an automated or semi-automated, highly reproducible computer implementation method for designing an antenna assembly is provided herein. The antenna assembly design thus generated can be exported to a printed circuit board (PCB) layout software tool to minimize the need for massive manual layouts. The antenna assembly design can also be exported to an electromagnetic field simulator software tool that allows the generation of theoretical field mappings for the antenna assembly.

A detailed embodiment of such an antenna assembly, a system incorporating such an antenna assembly, and a method of designing it are described herein. However, these detailed embodiments are merely embodiments of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms. Accordingly, the particular structural and functional details disclosed herein are not construed as restrictive, and are merely structures that serve as the basis for the claims and that, in effect, any person skilled in the art will adequately elaborate the disclosure. It should be interpreted as a representative basis for allowing various adoptions in. Although the examples of embodiments described below are intended for bronchoscopy of the patient's airway, those skilled in the art will appreciate the same or similar assemblies, systems, and methods, eg, vascular network, lymphatic system network. And / or will recognize that it can also be used within other luminal networks, such as gastrointestinal networks.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an electromagnetic navigation (EMN) system 100 provided by the present disclosure. In general, the EMN system 100 navigates towards a target location within the patient's body, among other things, by using an antenna assembly that produces one or more electromagnetic fields detected by sensors fixed to the medical device. It is configured to identify the location and / or orientation of the medical device being used. In some cases, the EMN system 100 is used during computer tomography (which is used during navigation of a medical device through the patient's body towards a target of interest, such as a dead portion in the luminal network of the patient's lungs. It is further configured to enhance CT) images, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, and / or fluoroscopic images.

The EMN system 100 includes a catheter guide assembly 110, a bronchoscope 115, a computing device 120, a monitoring device 130, a patient table (which may be referred to as an EM board 140), a tracking device 160, and a reference sensor 170. The bronchoscope 115 can operate on the computing device 120 (via tracking device 160) and the monitoring device 130, respectively, via a wired connection (as shown in FIG. 1) or a wireless connection (not shown in FIG. 1). Is linked to.

During the navigation phase of the EMN bronchoscopy procedure, the bronchoscope 115 is inserted into the oral cavity of patient 150 to capture an image of the luminal network of the lungs. The catheter-guided assembly 110 is inserted into the bronchoscope 115 to access the periphery of the luminal network of the patient 150's lungs. The catheter guide assembly 110 may include an EWC 111 having an EM sensor 112 immobilized on a portion (eg, a distal portion) of a catheter or an extended working channel 111 (eg, a distal portion). A deployable guide catheter (LG) can be inserted into the EWC 111 together with another EM sensor (not shown in FIG. 1) immobilized on a portion of the LG (eg, the distal portion). The EM sensor 112 fixed to the EWC 111 or the EM sensor fixed to the LG is configured to receive a signal based on the electromagnetic field radiated by the antenna assembly 145, and based on the received signal, the lungs. Used to determine the location and / or orientation of the EWC111 or LG during navigation through the luminal network. Due to the size limitation of the EM sensor 112 with respect to the EWC 111 or LG, in some cases the EM sensor 112 is one or more EM signals generated by the antenna assembly 145, as described in more detail below. May include only a single coil for receiving. However, the number of coils in the EM sensor 112 is not limited to one, but may be two, three, or more.

The computing device 120, such as a laptop, desktop, tablet, or other suitable computing device, has a display 122, one or more processors 124, one or more processor memories 126, and an AC current signal to the antenna assembly 145. It includes an AC current driver 127 for providing, a network interface controller 128, and one or more input devices 129. The particular configuration of the computing device 120 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided as an example, but other configurations of the components shown in FIG. 1 included within the computing device 120 are also conceivable. Specifically, in some embodiments, one or more of the components shown in FIG. 1 (122, 124, 126, 127, 128, and / or 129) included within the computing device 120. May instead be separated from the computing device 120 and by one or more respective wired or wireless paths to facilitate the transmission of power and / or data signals throughout the system 100. It may be linked to any component of 120 and / or system 100. For example, although not shown in FIG. 1, the AC current driver 127 may be isolated from the computing device 120, coupled to an antenna assembly 145, and / or one or more in some examples of embodiments. The corresponding path of may be linked to one or more components of the computing device 120, such as the processor 124 and the memory 126.

In some embodiments, the EMN system 100 may also include a plurality of computing devices 120, the plurality of computing devices 120 assisting the clinician in a manner suitable for planning, treatment, visualization, and medical surgery. Used for other embodiments. The display 122 may be contact sensitive and / or voice activated, allowing the display 122 to act as both an input device and an output device. The display 122 is a two-dimensional, 2D image or three-dimensional (two-dimensional) image, such as a 3D model of the lung, to allow the practitioner to localize and identify a portion of the lung that exhibits symptoms of lung disease. three-dimensional, 3D) images can be displayed.

One or more memories 126 store one or more programs and / or computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors 124, vary to one or more processors 124. Have the function and / or procedure implemented. For example, the processor 124 may calculate the location and / or orientation of the EM sensor 112 based on the electromagnetic signal emitted by the antenna assembly 145 and received by the EM sensor 112. Processor 124 may also perform image processing functions such that a 3D model of the lung is displayed on the display 122. Processor 124 may also generate one or more electromagnetic signals emitted by the antenna assembly 145. In some embodiments, the computing device 120 is a separate graphic accelerator (not shown in FIG. 1) that performs only image processing functions such that one or more processors 124 can be used for other programs. Can be further included. The one or more memories 126 also include data such as mapping data for EMN, image data, patient medical record data, prescription data, and / or data on the patient's disease history, and / or other types of data. Remember.

The mapping data is the EM signal characteristic (eg, EWC111, LG, therapeutic probe, or another surgical device) that corresponds to the grid points in the coordinate system of the EM volume where the medical device (eg, EWC111, LG, therapeutic probe, or another surgical device) navigates the grid points. For example, it can be linked to signal strength). In this way, when the EM sensor 112 detects an EM signal having a certain characteristic at a specific grid point, one or more processors 124 compare the detected EM signal characteristic with the EM signal characteristic in the mapping data. The location and / or orientation of the EM sensor 112 in the EM volume can be determined based on the results of the comparison.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pedestal 140 is configured to provide a flat surface on which the patient 150 lays down during the EMN navigation procedure. The antenna assembly 145, which may also be referred to as an EM field generating device, is placed on the table 140 or included as a component of the table 140. The antenna assembly 145 includes one or more antennas such as a planar loop antenna (not shown in FIG. 1). An example of an embodiment of the antenna assembly 145 will be described in more detail below.

With the patient 150 lying on the table 140, one or more processors 124 (or another signal generator not shown in FIG. 1) have the antennas convert to one or more respective EM signals. And generate one or more AC current signals that radiate in a manner sufficient to surround a portion of the patient 150 and provide it to the antenna of the antenna assembly 145 by the AC current driver 127. In some embodiments, the antenna assembly 145 comprises a connector having at least two terminals, the antenna trace (not shown in FIG. 1) has two ends, the two ends having two connectors. Each connected to a terminal forms a signal communication path from one or more processors 145 to the antenna.

An example of the EMN system 100 has been described, with reference to FIG. 2, which is an exemplary illustration of the antenna assembly layout 200 of the antenna assembly 145 of the EMN system 100 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna assembly layout 200 includes a substrate 210, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), which is made of an electrically insulating material and may include one or more layers. The antenna assembly layout 200 also includes a plurality of planar antennas 220 formed of a conductive material such as a PCB trace, deposited on a substrate 210 and disposed in a plurality of loops or as coils. In one example, each of the planar antennas 220 is deposited on each one of the layers of the substrate 210. In an example of the antenna assembly layout 200 of FIG. 2, a plurality of layers of the substrate 210 are shown simultaneously.

Each of the plurality of antennas may be configured to radiate a separate EM field using, for example, frequency division multiplexing and / or time division multiplexing controlled by processor 124 or by another generator. .. For example, the antenna, in some embodiments, radiates multiple EM fields of sufficient number and / or sufficient variety of properties (eg, frequency, time, modulation scheme, etc.) on the EWC111, or of any option. A single coil electromagnetic sensor mounted on another medical device is configured to allow it to be used to determine the location and / or orientation of the sensor, EWC111, and / or medical device. .. The antenna assembly 145 may include, for example, 6-9 or more loop antennas. In some embodiments, for each of the loop antennas, the larger the loop, the greater the distance between adjacent loops. For example, for each of the planar antennas, the respective distance between adjacent loop pairs can increase in the direction from the innermost loop of the loops of the respective planar antenna to the outermost loop of the loops. In various embodiments, two or more of the loop antennas in the antenna assembly 145 may have the same number of loops or may have different numbers of loops.

An example of the antenna assembly layout 200 of the antenna assembly 145 of the EMN system 100 has been described, but here, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the procedure 300 for designing an antenna assembly such as the antenna assembly 145. Refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart illustrating an example. In various embodiments, the procedure 300 can be fully computer-implemented or partially computer-implemented. See also FIGS. 4-13, which are illustrations of certain steps of procedure 300 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The example of method 300 of FIG. 3 may be implemented to design an antenna assembly comprising one antenna or an antenna assembly comprising a plurality of antennas. For illustrative purposes, this description of Method 300 will be made in the context of designing an antenna assembly that includes multiple antennas. However, certain embodiments of Method 300 will only be described with respect to the design of a single antenna of the plurality of antennas, whereas those embodiments of Method 300 relate to other antennas of the plurality of antennas. It applies in the same way.

Before explaining the details of the procedure 300, an outline of the procedure 300 will be provided. Generally, according to procedure 300, the design of the antenna assembly is a set of design parameters and / or constraints, including the number M of antennas in the antenna assembly being designed, as well as the seed shape of the antenna for each antenna in the antenna assembly. The location of the center of gravity of the seed shape on the substrate on which the antenna is manufactured, the number of loops in the antenna (N), the trace center-to-center spacing (TCCM), and the dimensions of the edge or boundary of the substrate. based on. The location of the antenna vertices of the antenna is determined based on the seed shape. Antenna design then proceeds by interconnecting the antenna vertices with linear linear portions that start at the innermost vertices and proceed to the outermost antenna vertices, so that the entire antenna is placed in multiple loops. Form a coil containing a single trace made. In one aspect, each loop of the antenna assembly grows from the seed shape towards the boundaries of the substrate and effectively covers most of the available surface area of the substrate layer outside the seed shape. The two ends of the trace are routed to the location of the connector to allow the antenna to be connected to the signal generator.

For antenna assemblies having multiple planar antennas on each layer of multiple layer boards, this general procedure is repeated for each of the antennas. In addition, the data corresponding to the designed antenna layout is an electromagnetic field simulation tool for simulating the electromagnetic fields generated by each antenna based on their specific characteristics (eg, EMN's theoretical electromagnetic field above). Can be exported to field mapping). The data corresponding to the designed antenna layout can also be exported to a PCB manufacturing tool that allows the antenna assembly to be manufactured in an automated fashion by the designed antenna layout.

Before explaining the details of the procedure 300, reference is made to FIG. 4 to illustrate examples of seed shapes and their characteristics. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows an example of nine seed rectangles 401-409 of the antenna assembly designed by procedure 300. Each of the seed rectangles 401-409 contains four vertices within the edge 400 of the substrate. The number of seed rectangles, and thus the number M of antennas, shown in the example of FIG. 4 is 9, but this is for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as a limitation. In other embodiments, the number of seed shapes, and thus the number M of antennas, may be, for example, 6, 9, or more. As an example, the square 400 may represent the edge of the board, and boundaries representing areas of the board available for antenna placement (not shown in FIG. 4) are housed within the edge 400 of the board and. It may be formed from squares in the xz plane that are smaller than the edge 400 of the substrate by a predetermined threshold or buffer amount.

In another example, the antenna assembly herein has different geometries that allow multiple degrees of freedom (eg, 6 degrees of freedom) of a small electromagnetic sensor, such as a single coil sensor, to be determined. Includes a plurality of planar antennas on a single substrate (eg, on each layer of a multilayer substrate) having characteristics such as shape and / or relative position. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the nine seed rectangles 401-409 may be grouped into three, and the seed rectangles 401-403 are in the first group. Seed rectangles 404-406 are in the second group and seed rectangles 407-409 are in the third group. As shown in FIG. 4, the three seed rectangles within each group have a specific geographical relationship with each other. For example, one seed rectangle is a square (or substantially square-like) and the other two seed rectangles are non-square rectangles located near the two sides of the square. For example, the seed rectangle 401 is a square, the seed rectangle 402 is located in a row with the length of the seed rectangle 401, and the seed rectangle 403 is located in a row with the width of the seed rectangle 401. Further, the length of the seed rectangle 402 is longer than the width of the square 401 and is similar to the length of the seed rectangle 401, while the width of the seed rectangle 402 is shorter than the width of the square 401 and the width of the seed rectangle 403. Is longer than the length of the square 401 and is similar to the width of the square 401, while the length of the seed rectangle 402 is shorter than the length of the square 401. The seed rectangles 404 to 406 of the second group and the seed rectangles 407 to 409 of the third group also have the same geometric features as the seed rectangles 401 to 403 of the first group.

In other words, for each of the plurality of planar antenna groups that can be generated based on the seed rectangles 401-409, the innermost loop of the first planar antenna (eg, corresponding to the seed rectangle 401) is the first linear portion. It has a first linear portion (eg, a first linear portion 410) and a second linear portion (eg, a second linear portion 411) that is approximately perpendicular to the first linear portion (eg, the first linear portion 410). Then, the innermost loop of the second planar antenna (eg, corresponding to the seed rectangle 402) has a first linear portion (eg, first linear portion 412) and a first linear portion (eg, first). It has a second linear portion (eg, a second linear portion 413) that is approximately parallel to and longer than the linear portion 412) of 1 and corresponds to a third planar antenna (eg, seed rectangle 403). ) Is approximately perpendicular to, and more than, the first linear portion (eg, first linear portion 414) and the first linear portion (eg, first linear portion 414). The first linear portion of the seed rectangle of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna (eg, the first linear portion 412) has a long second linear portion (eg, the second linear portion 415). , Approximately parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna (eg, the first linear portion 410) and the first linear of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna. The portion (eg, first linear portion 414) is substantially parallel to the second linear portion (eg, second linear portion 411) of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. Additional reference numbers for the first and second linear portions of the seed rectangles 404-409 (and thus the corresponding planar antennas) are omitted from FIG. 4 for clarity, but the seed rectangles of the second group. The seed rectangles 407-409 of the third group, respectively, 404-406 and the seed rectangles 407-409 of the third group have similar geometric relationships to each other, similar to those described above in the context of the seed rectangles 401-403 of the first group. ..

In one embodiment, these three groups may be geometrically dispersed from each group within the substrate 210. Dispersion can be achieved by geometric and / or angular relationships. For example, each innermost loop of each group of planar antennas can be positioned on each layer of a multilayer board at different angles from each other. In addition, the planar antenna and / or the seed rectangle on which the planar antenna is based may have their respective centroids (eg, represented by the circular dots in FIG. 4) with respect to the plane of the substrate, which are different from each other. Further, the outer boundary of the first group includes all the seed rectangles 404-409 of the second and third groups. Also, the seed rectangles 404-409 of the second and third groups are geometrically dispersed within the outer boundaries of the first group.

Furthermore, each group has an angular relationship with respect to the two axes (ie, the x-axis and the z-axis). For example, the seed rectangle 401 of the first group coincides with the two axes, while the seed rectangles 404 and 407 of the second and third groups are angles with respect to the two axes having different angles, respectively. It is attached. In other words, the minimum angle between the seed rectangle 401 or the first group of squares and the x-axis is zero, and the minimum angle between the seed rectangle 404 and the x-axis is greater than zero, but the third. Is less than the minimum angle between the seed rectangle 407 and the x-axis of the group of. However, the relationships between the three groups are not limited to geometric and angular relationships and can be extended within the scope of the present disclosure in a manner readily conceivable to those of skill in the art.

Each of the four vertices of the seed rectangles 401-409 can be provided in coordinate form (x, z) in the xz plane. In one embodiment, the centroids of each of the seed rectangles 401-409 can also be provided in coordinate form or calculated from four vertices. Dispersion can also be achieved by dispersing the center of gravity within the substrate 210. In one embodiment, the centers of gravity of all the seed rectangles 401-409 are arranged on the substrate at different positions from each other.

Referring here to FIG. 3, prior to block 301, a set of design parameters and / or constraints for the first antenna of the antenna assembly to be designed (eg, antenna seed shape, antenna will be manufactured. The location of the center of gravity of the seed shape on the substrate, the number of loops in the antenna (N), the minimum trace center spacing (TCCM) of the antenna, and the dimensions of the edge or boundary of the substrate) are set (not shown in FIG. 3). .. For illustrative purposes, the seed shape used in step 300 for each antenna is a seed rectangle, however, this should not be construed as a limitation. Other seed shapes (eg, seed triangle, seed pentagon, seed hexagon, any convex polygon, convex curved shape (eg ellipse, oval, circle, etc.), or any other suitable seed shape) Can be considered and used in step 300. In some embodiments, any combination of different seed shapes can be used for the antenna in the antenna assembly, respectively. Each seed shape has multiple vertices. More specifically, each seed rectangle has four vertices.

At block 301, the antenna index i _antennana is initialized. For example, i _antenna is set to 1 to correspond to the first antenna of the plurality of (M, where M> 1) antennas in the designed antenna assembly. As described below, the purpose of the antenna index i _antenna is to repeat step 300 for each of the M antennas in the antenna assembly when the antenna assembly contains multiple antennas. To make it possible. For example, in some examples, the substrate has multiple layers (eg, in a multi-layer PCB) and method 300 corresponds to an antenna deposited on the corresponding layer of the plurality of layers of the substrate. Adopted to generate multiple planar antenna layouts.

In block 302, a plurality of diagonals are calculated based on the seed rectangle with respect to the coordinate system of the substrate. In general, the number of diagonals calculated in block 302 is equal to the number of vertices in the seed shape. Specifically, in the case of a seed rectangle with four vertices, four diagonal lines are calculated, which divide each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle into two, from the four vertices of the seed rectangle to the boundaries of the substrate, respectively. Prolonged. The boundaries of the substrate may be physical boundaries of the substrate, such as the edges of the PCB, or may be theoretically given boundaries, such as boundaries offset from the edges of the PCB by a given buffer distance.

は、４×２の行列を表し、その非ゼロ要素は、その対角のみに位置し、Ｓの最小非ゼロ要素に等しい。 In one example, as part of the multiple diagonal calculations performed in block 302, the origin of each diagonal of the vertices of the seed rectangle is calculated first, then the vertices of the innermost loop of the antenna (also called seed vertices). ) Is determined based on the seed rectangle. For example, FIG. 5 shows starting points 511 and 512 calculated for the seed rectangle 405 of FIG. The origins 511 and 512 are bounded by the four vertices 501-504 of the seed rectangle 405. In one aspect, one origin may correspond to a single vertex of the seed rectangle, or one origin may correspond to two adjacent vertices. In another embodiment, the origin points 511 and 512 may be located on the diagonal of the seed rectangle, or on the diagonal that bisects the corresponding angle to form two 45 degree angles. In this case, the diagonals define the location of the vertices of the loop antenna. As an example, the origin 511 is located diagonally at the apex 501, dividing the 90 degree angle into two 45 degree angles. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the starting point 511 is located on the intersection of the diagonal lines that bisect the angles at the vertices 501 and 502. Similarly, the origin 512 is located at the intersection of the diagonals that bisect the angles at the vertices 503 and 504. In one example, the origin of the diagonal of each vertex of the seed rectangle can be calculated by performing principal component analysis (PCA) over the coordinates of the four vertices 501-504 using singular value decomposition. As used herein,
P _jk represents the k-th vertex of the j-th loop, j is 1 to N, k is 1 to 4, and so on.
P _jkx and P _jkz represent the x-coordinate and z-coordinate of the vertex P _jk , respectively.
{P _j1 , P _j2 , P _j3 , P _j4 } or simply {P _jk } is a 4 × 2 matrix having four vertices P _j1 , P _j2 , P _j3 , P _j4 of the jth loop as its rows. And
U represents a 4 × 4 matrix having orthonormal eigenvectors of {P _jk } {P _jk } ^T as its columns.
V represents a 2 × 2 matrix having orthonormal eigenvectors of {P _jk } ^T {P _jk } as its columns.
S represents a 4 × 2 matrix whose non-zero elements are located only diagonally thereof and are the square roots of the eigenvalues of {P _jk } {P _jk } ^T or {P _jk } ^T {P _jk }. ,And

Represents a 4 × 2 matrix whose non-zero elements are located only diagonally and equal to the smallest non-zero element of S.

重心を減算された４つの頂点Ｒ_ｊ上で特異値分解を実施することによって、Ｓ、Ｖ、及びＤの行列が、次式のように得られる：

式中、｛Ｒ_ｋ－Ｃ｝は、４×２の行列であり、｛Ｒ_ｋ－Ｃ｝の各行は、重心を減算された頂点（Ｒ_ｋｘ－Ｃ_ｘ、Ｒ_ｋｚ－Ｃ_ｚ）であり、ｋは、１～４である。 According to the four vertices R _k (R _kx , R _kz ) of a given i-th seed rectangle, the center of gravity C (C _x , C _z ) of the i-th seed rectangle is calculated as follows:

By performing a singular value decomposition on the four vertices _Rj with the center of gravity subtracted, a matrix of S, V, and D is obtained as follows:

In the equation, {R _k -C} is a 4x2 matrix, and each row of {R _k -C} is a vertex (R _kx -C _x , R _kz -C _z ) whose center of gravity is subtracted. , K are 1 to 4.

を得ることができ、ここで

は、Ｓ_２２に等しい。次いで、各頂点の起点Ｏ_ｋは、次式によって得られ得る。

の対角成分がＳの対角成分の最小値であるため、｛Ｏ_ｋ｝は、図５に示されるように、ｉ番目のシード矩形内において、起点５１１及び５１２に対応する２つの異なる行のみを含む。 S is a diagonal, i.e., a 4 × 2 matrix with non-zero elements only in S ₁₁ and S ₂₂ . Based on the singular value decomposition, S ₁₁ is S ₂₂ or higher. A new 4 × 2 diagonal matrix by substituting the value of S ₂₂ with the value of S ₁₁ .

Can be obtained here

Is equal to S ₂₂ . Then, the starting point _Ok of each vertex can be obtained by the following equation.

Since the diagonal component of S is the minimum value of the diagonal component of S, _{Ok } has two different rows corresponding to the origins 511 and 512 in the i-th seed rectangle, as shown in FIG. Includes only.

After acquiring the origins 511 and 512, a set of the first four seed vertices _P1k in the i-th seed rectangle is determined. These first four seed vertices _P1k are the seed vertices of the innermost loop of each antenna and can be used to determine the other vertices of that antenna.

式中、

は、それぞれの起点Ｏ_ｋからＲ_ｋの方を指すベクトルであり、

は、Ｒ_１からＲ_４の方を指すベクトルであり、

は、Ｒ_１からＲ_２の方を指すベクトルである。

の単位ベクトルを、

に加算することによって、Ｒ_１における９０度の角度を二分して２つの４５度の角度を形成する、それぞれの対角線と列をなす方向を有するベクトルが得られ、記号

は、記号

の内側のベクトルの大きさを表す。次いで、第１のシード頂点Ｐ_１１が、次の方程式によって得られる：

式中、

は、それぞれの起点Ｏ_１に由来するベクトルであり、したがってＰ_１１の座標を表す。図６は、Ｒ_２、Ｒ_３、及びＲ_４に一致する、アンテナの他の３つのシード頂点Ｐ_１２、Ｐ_１３、及びＰ_１４を例示する。Ｐ_１ｋとｉ番目のシード矩形の４辺との間の最小距離は、ＴＣＣＭに等しい。図７は、ベクトルＤｉａｇ_１、Ｄｉａｇ_２、Ｄｉａｇ_３、及びＤｉａｇ_４を示しており、これらは、シード頂点Ｐ_１１、Ｐ_１２、Ｐ_１３、及びＰ_１４を二分し、かつそれぞれのシード頂点Ｐ_１１、Ｐ_１２、Ｐ_１３、及びＰ_１４から基板の境界まで延在する、対角線のそれぞれの部分を形成し得る。 According to a given minimum trace center (TCCM) spacing, which represents a predetermined longest distance between traces or loops of a particular antenna or of all antennas of a particular antenna assembly, the first seed vertex _P11 is. Determined by moving R ₁ inward of the i-th seed rectangle to its corresponding diagonal that bisects the 90 degree angle at R ₁ . This can be done by first defining two vectors from R ₁ as in the following equation:

During the ceremony

Is a vector pointing from each starting point _{Ok to R k ,}

Is a vector pointing from R ₁ to R ₄ .

Is a vector pointing from R ₁ to R ₂ .

Unit vector,

By adding to, we obtain a vector with directions that form a row with each diagonal, dividing the 90 degree angle at _R1 into two 45 degree angles.

Is a sign

Represents the size of the vector inside. The first seed vertex _P11 is then obtained by the following equation:

During the ceremony

Is a vector derived from each origin O ₁ , and thus represents the coordinates of P ₁₁ . FIG. 6 illustrates the other three seed vertices P ₁₂ , P ₁₃ and P ₁₄ of the antenna that match R ₂ , R ₃ and R ₄ . The minimum distance between _P1k and the four sides of the i-th seed rectangle is equal to TCCM. FIG. 7 shows the vectors Diag ₁ , Diag ₂ , Diag ₃ , and Diag ₄ , which bisect the seed vertices P ₁₁ , P ₁₂ , P ₁₃ and P ₁₄ , and each seed vertex P ₁₁ , P ₁₂ , P ₁₃ , and P ₁₄ can form each portion of the diagonal extending from P 12, to the boundaries of the substrate.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, in block 303, the diagonal index _idiagonal is initialized. For example, idiagonal is set to 1 so as to correspond to the first diagonal of the four _diagonals of the seed rectangle. As described below, the purpose of the diagonal index _idial is to allow the aspects of the procedure to be repeated for each of the diagonals of the seed rectangle.

At block 304, for each diagonal, the vertex layout distance (also referred to herein as the layout distance) V _{rayout_k} between each vertex of the seed rectangle and the boundary of the substrate along each diagonal is calculated. The layout distance can represent or relate to the maximum usable distance between each vertex of the seed rectangle and the boundaries of the substrate.

が起点Ｏ_ｋから突出したときに、計算及び識別される。交点Ｔ_ｋは、複数の従来の手法を使用して見出され得る。交点Ｔ_ｋが見出されたとき、次式の関係が満たされる：

式中、

は、起点Ｏ_ｋから交点Ｔ_ｋまでのベクトルである。言い換えると、ベクトル

は、対角ベクトル

と同一方向を有する。 In some examples of embodiments, as part of the calculation of the layout distance in block 304, each intersection _Tk between the origin _Ok and the board boundary is, for example, as shown in FIG. Diagonal

Is calculated and identified when it protrudes from the starting point _Ok . The intersection _Tk can be found using multiple conventional techniques. When the intersection T _k is found, the relationship of the following equation is satisfied:

During the ceremony

Is a vector from the starting point _{Ok to the intersection T k .} In other words, vector

Is a diagonal vector

Has the same direction as.

減算項

は、Ｎ番目のループの最後の頂点Ｐ_Ｎｋが交点Ｔ_ｋから離れていることを確実にする。言い換えると、Ｐ_１ｋから始まるＶ_{ｌａｙｏｕｔ＿ｋ}の長さの線形部分のみが、Ｐ_１ｋとＴ_ｋとの間に（Ｎ－１）頂点を分布させるために使用される。 Using the _four vertices P11, _P12 , _P13 , and _P14 of the _first loop, and the identified intersections _T1 , T2 _, T3, and _T4 , the vertex layout distance V _{layout_k} is: Can be calculated from the equation:

Subtraction term

Ensures that the last vertex _PNk of the Nth loop is away from the intersection _Tk . In other words, only the linear part of the length of _{Vlayout_k} starting from P _1k is used to distribute the (N-1) vertices between P _1k and T _k .

After the intersection T _k is identified, all vertices of the loop antenna can be determined. One of the initial conditions is that the number of loops in the loop antenna is N, and the four vertices _P11 , _P12 , _P13 , and P14 of the first loop are determined _in step 330. 2, 3rd ,. .. .. , And each of the four vertices of the Nth loop are recursively determined. Specifically, in block 305, for each diagonal, each distance between adjacent plane antenna vertex pairs, positioned along each diagonal, is at least partially relative to the layout distance calculated in block 304. Determined based on. For example, each distance between adjacent planar antenna apex pairs, positioned along each diagonal, fits into a given number of N loops of antennas, while utilizing the seed rectangle from the apex to the board boundary. It can be determined to maximize the use of possible straight line distances. In this way, the available area of the substrate can be used efficiently. In addition, in some examples of embodiments, the outermost planar antenna vertices of the planar antenna vertices of each planar antenna are below a predetermined threshold from the boundaries of the substrate for efficient use of the available substrate area. Only apart.

In some examples, each distance is a predetermined number of N loops of planar antennas, a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent vertices, a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent traces, and / or their factors or other. Determined in block 305, at least partially based on any combination of one or more of the factors. Specifically, in one example, the vertices are grouped into four groups, each group forming a rectangular shape, and the vertices of the same group are described as corresponding vertices. For example, the first group is _P11 , _P21 ,. .. .. , And P _N1 , and the second group includes P ₁₂ , P ₂₂ ,. .. .. , _{And PN2} , and the third group includes _P13 , _P23 ,. .. .. , And _PN3 , and the fourth group includes _{P14, P24 ,} . .. .. , _{And PN4} . Therefore, P _3k and P _Nk are in the same k-th group and are corresponding vertices, while P ₃₃ and P ₄₂ are not in the same group and are not corresponding vertices. For each group, the distance between P _jk and P _{(j + 1) k} is set to be greater than the distance between P _{(j-1) k} and P _jk , where j is 2 to N-1. , K are 1 to 4. In other words, the distance between two adjacent corresponding vertices increases towards the boundaries of the substrate. In other words, in one example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the distance between adjacent pairs of antenna vertices increases progressively in the direction from the innermost vertices of the vertices to the outermost vertices of the vertices. growing. The increasing distance in the direction from each vertex of the seed rectangle to the boundary can be implemented by various methods such as arithmetic progressions, geometric progressions, exponential recurrence formulas, and / or the like.

式中、

は、頂点Ｐ_ｊｋとｐ_{（ｊ＋１）ｋ}との間の距離を表し、ｓｌｏｐｅ_ｋは、ｋ番目の群の定数であり、これは、２つの距離ｄ_ｊｋとｄ_{（ｊ＋１）ｋ}との間の公差であり、ｊは、１～（Ｎ－２）である。したがって、ｋ番目の群の各頂点は、Ｔ_ｋ及びＰ_１ｋを接続する線形部分上に位置付けられ、Ｐ_ＮｋとＰ_１ｋとの間の全長は、頂点レイアウト距離Ｖ_{ｌａｙｏｕｔ＿ｋ}以下である。Ｔ_ｋとＰ_Ｎｋとの間の最小トレース中心（ＴＣＣＭ）間隔の半分の追加の禁止エリアを作製するために、次の方程式が満たされ得る：

方程式（２０）が定数ｓｌｏｐｅ_ｋについて解かれるとき、次の方程式が得られ得る：

方程式（２０）が、方程式（１６）及び（１７）と組み合わせられたとき、次の方程式が得られる：

このように、２つの隣接する対応する頂点Ｐ_ｊｋとＰ_{（ｊ＋１）ｋ}との間の距離は、ｊが増加するにつれて増加する。対応する頂点間のこの漸増的パターンは、第２及び第３の群よりも第１及び第４の群でより明確に図１０に示されている。 For example, an arithmetic progression can be employed to distribute the remaining vertices within each group. Let d _jk be the distance between P _jk and P _{(j + 1) k} in the kth group, and express it in a recursive form as follows:

During the ceremony

Represents the distance between the vertices P _jk and p _{(j + 1) k} , and slope _k is the constant of the kth group, which is between the two distances d _jk and d _{(j + 1) k} . It is a tolerance, and j is 1 to (N-2). Therefore, each vertex of the k-th group is positioned on the linear portion connecting T _k and P ₁ k, and the total length between PN _k and P 1 k is less _{than or equal to the vertex layout distance V rayout_k .} The following equation may be satisfied to create an additional prohibited area of half the minimum trace center (TCCM) spacing between T _k and P _Nk :

When equation (20) is solved for the constant slope _k , the following equation can be obtained:

When equation (20) is combined with equations (16) and (17), the following equation is obtained:

Thus, the distance between two adjacent corresponding vertices P _jk and P _{(j + 1) k} increases as j increases. This incremental pattern between the corresponding vertices is shown more clearly in FIG. 10 in the first and fourth groups than in the second and third groups.

At block 306, planar antenna vertices are positioned along their respective diagonals based on their respective distances between adjacent planar antenna apex pairs determined by block 305.

At block 307, the diagonal index _idiagonal is compared to the number of diagonals of the seed rectangle, i.e. 4, to determine if the steps of block 305 and block 306 are repeated for the additional diagonal of each antenna. .. In block 307, if _idiagonal is determined to be less than the number of diagonals, in block 308, idiagonal corresponds to the next diagonal (eg, second diagonal) of the four _diagonals of the seed rectangle. Is incremented by 1. The steps of block 305 and block 306 are then repeated for the next diagonal in the manner described above.

を画定し、一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２１及びＰ’_２２を設定し、一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２１及びＰ’_２２を接続する線形部分とＰ_１１及びＰ_１２を接続する線形部分との間の距離を測定し、最小距離がＴＣＣＭよりも大きくなるまでＶＶＭの値を調整することによって行われる。このステップの詳細は、以下に更に説明される。 On the other hand, in block 307, if _idiagonal is determined to be equal to the number of diagonals, it indicates that the steps in blocks 305 and 306 have been performed for each of the four diagonals of the seed rectangle, and then block. At 309, the minimum distance to vertex distance (VVM) is calculated and the minimum distance between two adjacent corresponding linear parts is TCCM when the vertices are connected by a linear part or section of the line. Make sure it is larger than, and the phrase "two adjacent corresponding linear parts" is used to refer to linear parts that are located within different loops but are closer to each other than any other linear part. To. This is a diagonal vector

Is defined, temporary vertices _P'21 and _P'22 are set, and between the linear part connecting the temporary vertices _P'21 and _P'22 and the linear part connecting _P11 and _P12 . This is done by measuring the distance and adjusting the value of VVM until the minimum distance is greater than TCCM. The details of this step are further described below.

は、次式のように画定される：

式中、ｋは、１～４である。これらの対角ベクトル

が原点（０，０）に配置されたとき、それらは、図７の中央に示されるように、４つの９０度の角度を形成することを示す十字を形成する。 Diagonal vector

Is defined as:

In the formula, k is 1 to 4. These diagonal vectors

When placed at the origin (0,0), they form a cross indicating that they form four 90 degree angles, as shown in the center of FIG.

は、次式によって画定される：

一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２２は、次式のようなベクトル形態で画定される。

式中、記号「・」は、２つのベクトル間の内積である。要するに、一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２２は、ｉ番目のシード矩形の外側に向かう対角

の方向において

だけＰ_１２から離れている。次に、ＶＶＭは、次の方程式で一時的に初期化される：

一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２１は、次式のようなベクトル形態で画定される：

Ｐ’_２２と同様に、一時的な頂点Ｐ’_２１は、ｉ番目のシード矩形の外側に向かう対角

の方向において

だけＰ_１１から離れている。 The temporary distance D _p2to5 is initialized as the value of TCCM. vector

Is defined by the following equation:

The temporary vertex _P'22 is defined by a vector form as shown in the following equation.

In the equation, the symbol "." Is the inner product between the two vectors. In short, the temporary vertex _P'22 is diagonal to the outside of the i-th seed rectangle.

In the direction of

Only away from _P12 . The VVM is then temporarily initialized with the following equation:

Temporary vertices _P'21 are defined in vector form as in the following equation:

Similar to _P'22 , the temporary vertex _P'21 is diagonal to the outside of the i-th seed rectangle.

In the direction of

Only away from _P11 .

As shown in FIG. 8, the distance between the linear portion connecting the temporary vertices _P'21 and _P'22 and the linear portion between P ₁₁ and P ₁₂ is calculated. There are multiple distances between the two linear parts because the linear part connecting the temporary vertices _P'21 and _P'22 and the linear part between P ₁₁ and P ₁₂ do not have to be parallel. At block 309, a determination is made as to whether or not the minimum distance D of the plurality of distances between the two linear parts is less than or equal to TCCM. If it is determined in block 309 that the minimum distance D of the plurality of distances is less than or equal to TCCM, then in block 311 the temporary distance D _p2to5 is increased by a predetermined amount and the minimum distance D is greater than TCCM. The above procedure of blocks 302 to 309 is repeated, which comprises using (9) to (13) until also becomes large. The final result of VVM is set as the value of the minimum value between vertices.

On the other hand, in block 309, if it is determined that the minimum distance D of the plurality of distances is larger than TCCM, then in block 312, the planar antenna layout is a planar antenna via their respective linear linear portions. It is generated by interconnecting the vertices to form a plurality of loops (eg, N loops) that sequentially traverse each of the plurality of diagonals of each planar antenna. Each of the loops contains a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of planar antenna vertices, i.e., if the seed shape is a seed rectangle, it comprises four linear linear portions and four planar antenna vertices. For example, the first loop of each loop antenna, such as the loop antenna shown in FIG. 11, has four vertices (ie, P ₁₁ , P ₁₂ , P ₁₃ , and P ₁₄ ) and four linear portions (ie, P). Includes L ₁₁ connecting ₁₁ and P ₁₂ , L ₁₂ connecting P ₁₂ and P ₁₃ , L ₁₃ connecting P ₁₃ and P ₁₄ , and L ₁₄ ) connecting P ₁₄ and P ₂₁ . .. .. The (N-1) th loop has four vertices (ie, P _{(N-1) 1} , P _{(N-1) 2} , P _{(N-1) 3} , and P _{(N-1) 4} ), And four linear parts (ie, L _{(N-1) 1} , P _{(N-1) 2} and P _{(N-1) 3} connecting between P ( _{N-1) 1} and P _(N-1 ) 2). Connect L _{(N-1) 2} , P _{(N-1) 3} and P _{(N-1) 4} to connect L _{(N-1) 3} , and connect P ( _{N -1) 4} and PN1 to connect. L _{(N-1) 4} ) (not signed in FIG. 11 for clarity), and the Nth loop contains four vertices (ie, _PN1 , _PN2 , _PN3 ,). And P _N4 ), and three linear parts (ie, L _N1 connecting P _N1 and P _N2 , L _N2 connecting P _N2 and P _N3 , and L _N3 connecting P _N3 and P _N4 ). FIG. 11 shows the design of a loop antenna including a plurality of loops designed by the procedure 300.

In block 313, a plurality of additional linear linear portions are from at least two of the planar antenna vertices (specifically, from two terminal antenna vertices located at the two ends of the linear planar antenna layout, respectively). ), Routed to the location of one or more connectors with respect to the coordinate system of the board. Multiple additional linear linear parts are added to the planar antenna layout. In embodiments where procedure 300 is employed to design an antenna assembly that includes multiple planar antennas placed on each layer of a multilayer board, the planar antenna layout may be up to the location of a single connector or each. It can be routed to the location of a separate connector corresponding to the antenna, or to any combination of connectors.

At block 314, the antenna index i _antennana is compared to the number M of antennas in the antenna assembly to determine if the procedure of blocks 302 to 313 is repeated for additional antennas in the antenna assembly. To. If in block 314 it is determined that _iantenna is less than the number of antennas M, then in block 315 _iantenna is the next antenna out of the M antennas in the antenna assembly (eg, the second antenna). ) Is incremented by 1. Next, the procedure of blocks 302 to 313 is repeated for the next antenna in the above manner. FIG. 12 shows the design of six loop antennas that can be designed by procedure 300.

On the other hand, in block 314, if it is determined that _iantenna is equal to the number of antennas M, it indicates that the procedure of blocks 302 to 313 was performed for each of the M antennas in the antenna assembly, and then , In block 316, which may be optional in some embodiments, the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout is exported to a circuit board routing tool, a circuit board manufacturing tool, and / or an electromagnetic simulation tool.

In one example, by exporting the data corresponding to the generated planar antenna layout to an electromagnetic simulation tool at block 316, one or more electromagnetic fields that can be generated by the antenna in the antenna assembly are each exported data. , And can be simulated based on the superposition of multiple electromagnetic field components from each of the multiple linear linear portions of the planar antenna layout. For example, each loop based on the seed shape can be represented by a well-defined mathematical equation such as a Cartesian equation or a parameteric equation, whereby the strength of the EM field generated by each loop becomes a mathematical equation. It can be calculated by Biot-Savart-Laplace's law at any point in the underlying space. In other words, due to the geometry of the antenna assembly and other aspects (such as the use of linear linear portions as interconnects within the antenna assembly), there is a need to generate and adopt detailed EM mapping. Alternatively, electromagnetic field mapping can be avoided by allowing it to be calculated theoretically based on the characteristics of the antenna assembly. The calculated field mapping can then be adopted in conjunction with the more easily generated low density field mapping obtained alone or from the measurement. In other words, the antenna assembly designed by procedure 300 does not require the use of expensive measuring equipment and the need to perform time-consuming and labor-intensive measurements, an accurate high-density theory for EMN. It can serve as the basis for generating the target electromagnetic field mapping.

As will be apparent from the description herein, according to procedure 300, the antenna assembly is based on a small number of design parameters and / or constraints such as seed shape, number of loops, TCCM, and / or similar. And can be designed in an efficient and repeatable fashion. Each of the antennas in the designed antenna assembly can be printed, deposited or manufactured on the respective substrate layer and used as the EM field generator 145 of the EMN system 100 of FIG. Furthermore, by adopting linear linear parts to construct the loop antenna, the electromagnetic field generated by each linear part uses Biot-Savart-Laplace's law at any point in the EM volume. , Can be calculated theoretically and accurately.

FIG. 13 shows an illustrated illustration of the loop antenna layout designed by method 300 of FIG. After connecting all the vertices, additional layouts may be automatically generated based on a few design rules in place related to trace length and routing orientation. These rules may be specific to the PCB software program or design requirements. In one aspect, the antenna design performed by method 300 is two-dimensional DXF (Drawing eXchange).
It may be converted to a Format) CAD file, which is then imported into the Altium PCB layout software. The PCB layout software is not limited to the Altium PCB layout software, and can be any software that can be easily understood and used by those skilled in the art.

Based on the software design rules or requirements, the vertices P11 and PN4 are electrically connected to connector 1301 containing at least two conductors _1301a , _1301b of the loop antenna, respectively, to complete the complete drawing of the loop antenna. do.

Once the antenna assembly design is complete, the antenna is manufactured based on the antenna assembly design by depositing a conductive material (eg, silver or copper) on the substrate, as shown in FIG. Antennas printed on the substrate include structural and / or geometric relationships between loops, which are described in detail below.

In one example of the embodiment, the vertices of the loop antenna can be grouped into four groups. The first group of vertices are P ₁₁ , P ₂₁ , ... .. .. , And P _N1 , and the second group of vertices are P ₁₂ , P ₂₂ ,. .. .. , P _N2 , and the third group of vertices are P ₁₃ , P ₂₃ ,. .. .. , P _N3 , and the fourth group of vertices are P ₁₄ , P ₂₄ ,. .. .. , _PN4 included. _{Since Vlayout_k} is different for each group, one vertex group can be distributed more densely than the other vertex groups. As shown in FIG. 13, the vertices of the fourth group are loosely distributed than the vertices of the other groups, and the vertices of the second or third group are denser than the vertices of the first and fourth groups. It is distributed in.

In another embodiment, the minimum distance between two corresponding linear parts (eg, L _jk and L _{(j + 1) k} ) increases as j increases. In other words, the distance between two adjacent corresponding linear parts increases in the direction from the innermost linear part to the corresponding outermost linear part. Based on this structural and / or geometric relationship between the loop and the vertices, the loop antenna may cover the substrate as much as possible while maintaining such a relationship.

In one embodiment, after connecting the vertices to the linear part, another safety measure may be adopted to ensure that all requirements are met in the antenna design. For example, the shortest distance between two adjacent corresponding linear parts can be calculated again. The procedure 300 can be repeated with different minimum vertex distances VVM in the presence of any two adjacent corresponding linear portions having the shortest distance less than or equal to TCCM.

In one aspect, the design procedure 300 may be able to maintain substantially the same inductance for each loop antenna, as the inductance is defined at least in part based on the antenna geometry. The resistance of the loop antenna can vary with the copper thickness on each layer. Therefore, two additional layers (one layer on the top and the other layer on the bottom) are added to ensure that the antenna assembly maintains the intended copper thickness. With these additional layers, the via plating process does not add copper to the antenna layer on the inner layer. Therefore, the copper thickness may depend only on the core material used and the initially selected copper weight. In another embodiment, the PCB design may include a single via for each energization path to minimize series resistance and improve the robustness of each current path. By having more vias, the resistance can be predicted with high accuracy and calculated automatically based on the antenna geometry and the controlled copper thickness.

Referring here to FIG. 14, a block diagram of a computing device 1400 that can be used as a computer performing the EMN system 100, control workstation 102, tracking device 160, and / or procedure 300 of FIG. 3 is shown. .. The computing device 1400 may include one or more of each of a memory 1402, a processor 1404, a display 1406, a network interface controller 1408, an input device 1410, and / or an output module 1412.

Memory 1402 is runnable by processor 1404 and includes any non-temporary computer-readable storage medium that stores data and / or software that controls the operation of computing device 1400. In one embodiment, the memory 1402 may include one or more solid state storage devices such as a flash memory chip. Alternatively, or in addition to one or more solid-state storage devices, the memory 1402 is via a mass storage control device (not shown in FIG. 14) and a communication bus (not shown in FIG. 14). One or more mass storage devices connected to processor 1404 can be mentioned. Although the description of computer readable media contained herein refers to solid state storage, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the computer readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by processor 1404. Will do. That is, examples of computer-readable storage media are non-temporary, volatile and non-volatile performed by any method or technique for the storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. , Removable and non-removable media. For example, computer readable storage media include RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray or other optical storage device, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic. A disk storage device, or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store desired information and is accessible by the computing device 1400 can be mentioned.

Memory 1402 may store application 1416 and / or data 1414. The application 1416 may cause the display 1406 to present the user interface 1418 on the display 1406 when executed by the processor 1404.

The processor 1404 is a general-purpose processor, a special graphics processor (graphic processing unit (GPU)) configured to perform a specific graphic processing task while freeing the general-purpose processor to perform other tasks, and a field programmable gate array. (Field processor gate
Programmable logic devices (array, FPGA) or programmable logic devices (complex programmable logic devices, CPLDs) and / or any number of such processors or devices configured to operate independently or in concert. Can be a combination.

The display 1406 may be contact sensitive and / or voice activated, allowing the display 1406 to act as both an input and output device. Alternatively, a keyboard (not shown), mouse (not shown), or other data entry device can be used.

The network interface 1408 includes a local area network (LAN) including a wired network and / or a wireless network, a wide area network (WAN), a wireless mobile phone network, a Bluetooth® network, and / or. It may be configured to connect to a network such as the Internet. For example, the computing device 1400 may receive design requirements and predetermined variables and perform step 300 of FIG. 3 to design an antenna assembly. The computing device 1400 may receive updates to its software, eg, application 1416, via the network interface controller 1408. The computing device 1400 may also display a notification on the display 1406 that software updates are available.

In another embodiment, the computing device 1400 receives a patient's computer tomography (CT) image data from a server for use during surgical planning, such as a hospital server, internet server, or other similar server. obtain. The patient's CT image data may also be provided to the computing device 1400 via removable memory (not shown in FIG. 14).

The input device 1410 can be any device that allows the user to interact with the computing device 1400, such as a mouse, keyboard, foot pedal, touch screen, and / or voice interface.

The output module 1412 may include any connection port or bus, such as, for example, a parallel port, a serial port, a universal serial bus (USB), or any other similar connection port known to those of skill in the art. Can be mentioned.

Application 1416 may be one or more software programs stored in memory 1402 and executed by processor 1404 of computing device 1400. During the loop antenna design phase, one or more software programs in application 1416 are loaded from memory 1402 and executed by processor 1404 to automatically design the loop antenna, seed shape information, in each loop antenna. Certain parameters and / or constraints are given, such as the number of loops and / or the like. In some embodiments, during the planning phase, one or more programs within the application 1416 identify targets, target sizes, treatment zone sizes, and / or for subsequent use during the navigation or procedure phase. Guide the clinician through a series of steps to determine the route of access to the target. In some other embodiments, one or more software programs within application 1416 may be loaded onto a computing device in the operating room or other facility where the surgical procedure is performed, and the clinical procedure is performed clinically. Used as a plan or map to guide the doctor, but without any feedback from the medical device used in the procedure to indicate where the medical device is located in relation to the plan.

Application 1416 may be installed directly on the computing device 1400, or it may be installed on another computer, eg, a central server, and opened on the computing device 1400 via network interface 1408. Application 1416 may run natively on the computing device 1400 as a web-based application or in any other form known to those of skill in the art. In some embodiments, application 1416 will be a single software program with all of the features and functions described herein. In other embodiments, application 1416 can be two or more separate software programs that provide various parts of these features and functions. For example, application 1416 may include one software program for automatically designing a loop antenna, another software program for converting the design into a CAD file, and a third program for a PCB layout software program. .. In such an example, the various software programs that form part of application 1416 are capable of communicating with each other and / or importing and exporting various data including settings and parameters related to the design of the loop antenna. Can be done. For example, a loop antenna design generated by one software program may be stored and exported for use by a second software program to convert to a CAD file, and the converted file may also be looped. It may be stored and exported for use by the PCB layout software program to complete the drawing of the antenna.

Application 1416 may communicate with user interface 1418, for example to present a visual interactive feature to a user on display 1406 and, for example, to receive user input via a user input device. Generate a user interface. For example, the user interface 1418 may generate a graphical user interface (GUI) and output the GUI to the display 1406 for viewing by the user.

Where the computing device 1400 can be used as an EMN system 100, a control workstation 102, or a tracking device 160, the computing device 1400 can be linked to a monitoring device 130 and thus the computing device 1400 can be a display 1406. Along with the above output, it is possible to control the output on the monitoring device 130. The computing device 1400 may control the monitoring device 130 to display an output that is the same as or similar to the output displayed on the display 1406. For example, the output on the display 1406 may be mirrored onto the surveillance device 130. Alternatively, the computing device 1400 may control the monitoring device 130 to display an output different from the output displayed on the display 1406. For example, the surveillance device 130 may be controlled to display guidance images and information during the surgical procedure, while the display 1406 may include configuration or status information of an electrosurgical generator (not shown in FIG. 1). Controlled to display other outputs.

For example, application 1416 may include one software program for use during the planning phase and a second software program for use during the navigation or procedure phase. In such cases, the various software programs that form part of Application 1416 import navigation and treatment and / or patient-related settings and parameters to communicate with each other and / or share information. And may be able to export. For example, any of the treatment plans and their components generated by one software program during the planning phase can be stored and exported for use by the second software program during the procedure phase.

Although embodiments have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings for illustration and illustration, it should be understood that the processes and devices of the invention should not be construed as limiting. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the above embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (16)

An antenna assembly for radiating a plurality of electromagnetic fields for electromagnetic navigation, said antenna assembly.
A substrate with multiple layers and
A first group of planar antennas, a second group of planar antennas, and a third group of planar antennas , the first group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group. Each of the planar antennas of the above includes its own trace, and each of the traces is deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and arranged in each of the plurality of loops . Each of the group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group of planar antennas includes a first planar antenna , a second planar antenna , and a third planar antenna. With a group of planar antennas and a second group of planar antennas and a third group of planar antennas
Equipped with
For each of the first group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group of planar antennas.
The innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion.
The innermost loop of the second planar antenna is a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and is longer than the first linear portion. Have,
The innermost loop of the third planar antenna is a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and is longer than the first linear portion. Have,
The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna.
The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna .
The second group of planar antennas and the third group of planar antennas are geometrically dispersed within the outer boundaries defined by the first group of planar antennas.
The innermost loops of the first planar antennas of the first group of planar antennas and the second group of planar antennas and the third group of planar antennas are the innermost loops of the plurality of layers. An antenna assembly that is positioned on each layer at different angles from each other, the angles being relative to the X and Z axes . For each of the planar antennas, the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops is from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. The antenna assembly according to claim 1, which increases in the direction of . The antenna assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of loops includes a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices. For each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is a four diagonal line that bisects the angle of each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas. The antenna assembly according to claim 3 , which is arranged along one of the two. The antenna assembly according to claim 3 , wherein the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less. The antenna assembly according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of respective centers of gravity with respect to different planes of the substrate. The antenna assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the planar antennas includes the same number of loops. The antenna assembly further comprises a connector having a plurality of terminals.
The antenna assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the traces of the plurality of planar antennas is coupled to each terminal of the plurality of terminals. It is an electromagnetic navigation system, and the electromagnetic navigation system is
An antenna assembly configured to radiate an electromagnetic field, said antenna assembly.
A substrate with multiple layers and
A first group of planar antennas, a second group of planar antennas, and a third group of planar antennas , the first group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group. Each of the planar antennas of the above includes its own trace, and each of the traces is deposited on each layer of the plurality of layers and arranged in each of the plurality of loops . Each of the group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group of planar antennas includes a first planar antenna , a second planar antenna , and a third planar antenna . With 1 group of planar antennas and 2nd group of planar antennas and 3rd group of planar antennas
Including
For each of the first group of planar antennas, the second group of planar antennas, and the third group of planar antennas.
The innermost loop of the first planar antenna has a first linear portion and a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion.
The innermost loop of the second planar antenna is a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and is longer than the first linear portion. Have,
The innermost loop of the third planar antenna is a second linear portion that is substantially perpendicular to the first linear portion and is longer than the first linear portion. Have,
The first linear portion of the innermost loop of the second planar antenna is substantially parallel to the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna.
An antenna set in which the first linear portion of the innermost loop of the third planar antenna is substantially parallel to the second linear portion of the innermost loop of the first planar antenna. 3D and
With a catheter,
An electromagnetic sensor fixed to the catheter that is configured to receive one or more signals based on the radiated electromagnetic field.
With the processor
A memory containing an instruction that, when executed by the processor, calculates at least one of the locations or orientations of the electromagnetic sensor based on the one or more signals received . With memory to let the processor do
Equipped with
The second group of planar antennas and the third group of planar antennas are geometrically dispersed within the outer boundaries defined by the first group of planar antennas.
The innermost loops of the first planar antennas of the first group of planar antennas and the second group of planar antennas and the third group of planar antennas are the innermost loops of the plurality of layers. An electromagnetic navigation system that is positioned on each layer at different angles from each other, the angles being relative to the X and Z axes . For each of the planar antennas, the distance between adjacent loops of the plurality of loops is from the innermost loop of the plurality of loops to the outermost loop of the plurality of loops. The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 9 , which increases in the direction of . The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of loops includes a plurality of linear linear portions and a plurality of vertices. For each planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas, each of the plurality of vertices is a four diagonal line that bisects the angle of each of the four vertices of the seed rectangle corresponding to the respective planar antenna of the plurality of planar antennas. The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 11 , which is arranged along one of the two. 11. The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 11 , wherein the outermost vertices of the plurality of vertices of the plurality of planar antennas are separated from the edge of the substrate by a predetermined threshold value or less. The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 9 , wherein the plurality of planar antennas have a plurality of respective centers of gravity with respect to different planes of the substrate. The electromagnetic navigation system of claim 9 , wherein each of the planar antennas comprises the same number of loops. The electromagnetic navigation system further comprises a connector having a plurality of terminals.
The electromagnetic navigation system according to claim 9 , wherein each of the traces of the plurality of planar antennas is coupled to each terminal of the plurality of terminals.

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