CN117497280A - Induction coil assembly and magnetic field sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an induction coil assembly and a magnetic field sensor, wherein the induction coil assembly comprises a coil body and a substrate which are connected, and the coil body comprises one or more coil units; the coil unit comprises a plurality of coils connected with each other, wherein the coils are positioned on the same plane, and the diameter or side length of each coil is gradually increased from inside to outside; or each coil section is spirally arranged along the axial direction of the coil unit. The magnetic field sensor comprises a housing and the induction coil assembly described above. The invention can effectively solve the problems that the existing small-volume sensor has more disadvantages in the aspects of positioning accuracy, reliability, cost and the like, has heavier economic burden for patients and is not beneficial to clinical application and popularization.

Description

Induction coil assembly and magnetic field sensor

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of magnetic field positioning, in particular to an induction coil assembly and a magnetic field sensor.

Background

The existing three-dimensional positioning technology based on the magnetic field is widely applied to the minimally invasive interventional operation, such as the three-dimensional cardiac electrophysiology marker system and the catheter applied to the minimally invasive radio frequency ablation treatment of the tachyarrhythmia. The system is used in clinical surgical applications to push a catheter fitted with a positioning sensor into a vascular access percutaneously to a treatment or detection site in the body, such as a heart chamber. Since interventional catheters generally require as small a size volume as possible to facilitate minimally invasive interventional procedures, sensors typically used for three-dimensional positioning are small in size, typically less than 1mm in diameter. In the whole three-dimensional positioning system, besides the positioning sensor contained in the interventional instrument, a plurality of sensors are also required to be equipped outside the patient for assisting in positioning, calibration and other functions, and the positioning sensors used in the body and the body are not different in size and volume at present. The small-size sensor has more disadvantages in positioning accuracy, reliability, cost and the like, and has heavy economic burden on patients, so that the clinical application and popularization are not facilitated.

It should be noted that the information disclosed in this background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an induction coil assembly and a magnetic field sensor, which are used for solving the problems that the existing small-volume sensor has more disadvantages in the aspects of positioning accuracy, reliability, cost and the like, the economic burden of a patient is heavy, and the clinical application and popularization are not facilitated.

In order to solve the technical problems, the invention provides an induction coil assembly, which comprises a coil body and a substrate which are connected, wherein the coil body comprises one or more coil units;

the coil unit comprises a plurality of coils connected with each other, wherein the coils are positioned on the same plane, and the length of each coil is gradually increased from inside to outside; or each coil section is spirally arranged along the axial direction of the coil unit.

Optionally, the ratio of the length dimension to the thickness dimension of the coil unit is greater than 5:1, and the sum of the areas surrounded by the coil segments of each coil unit is not less than 500 square millimeters.

Optionally, the substrate is a planar substrate, and the coil segment has a circular ring structure.

Optionally, the coil unit further comprises a magnetic core, and each turn of the coil section in the coil unit is arranged around the magnetic core.

Optionally, the plurality of coil units are connected in series with each other, and the plurality of coil units are coaxially disposed.

Optionally, the induction coil assembly further includes a signal outgoing line connected to the coil body, and the signal outgoing line is used for connecting the coil body and the signal detection device.

Optionally, the signal outgoing line is a twisted pair, one of the wires of the signal outgoing line is connected with the head end of the coil body, and the other wire of the signal outgoing line is connected with the tail end of the coil body.

In order to solve the technical problem, the invention also provides a magnetic field sensor, which comprises a shell and the induction coil assembly, wherein the induction coil assembly is arranged in the shell.

Optionally, the magnetic field sensor includes a set of the induction coil assemblies and a miniature magnetic field positioning sensor, wherein an axis of a miniature coil body in the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor forms a first angle with an axis of the coil body, and the first angle is not equal to 0 °.

Optionally, the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor is arranged in the coil body; the coil body is arranged on the substrate, a groove is formed in the substrate, and the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor is arranged in the groove.

Optionally, the magnetic field sensor includes two groups of the induction coil assemblies, axes of the coil bodies of the two groups of the induction coil assemblies are at a second angle, the second angle is not equal to 0 °, and the coil bodies of the two groups of the induction coil assemblies are insulated from each other.

Optionally, one group of the coil units in the coil body is arranged in a plane shape, the other group of the coil units in the coil body is arranged in a spiral shape, and the coil units arranged in the spiral shape are wound outside the coil units arranged in the plane shape.

Optionally, one surface of the housing for contacting the body surface of the target object is coated with a gel.

Compared with the prior art, the induction coil assembly and the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention have the following advantages:

the induction coil assembly comprises a coil body and a substrate which are connected, wherein the coil body comprises one or more coil units, the coil units comprise a plurality of coils which are connected with each other, the coil sections of the coils are positioned on the same plane, and the diameters or side lengths of the coil sections of the coils are gradually increased from inside to outside; or each coil section is spirally arranged along the axial direction of the coil unit. Therefore, the substrate can provide support for the coil body so as to improve the overall mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention and prevent the induction coil assembly from being damaged due to poor mechanical strength in the use process. In addition, through the arrangement of the substrate, the coil units in the induction coil assembly can be manufactured into larger sizes, so that the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, and the positioning accuracy is effectively improved.

Further, the ratio of the length dimension to the thickness dimension of the coil unit is greater than 5:1. Therefore, the length of the coil body in the induction coil assembly provided by the preferred embodiment of the invention is ensured to be larger, so that the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, the positioning precision is effectively improved, the production cost of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can be effectively reduced, the integral mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is improved, and the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is not easy to damage. Meanwhile, the thickness of the coil body in the induction coil assembly provided by the preferred embodiment of the invention is smaller, so that the overall thickness of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly provided by the preferred embodiment of the invention can be reduced, the production cost of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can be reduced, and the magnetic field sensor can be better applied to occasions such as the body surface of a target object.

Because the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention comprises the induction coil assembly provided by the invention, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, so that the positioning accuracy is effectively improved, and meanwhile, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention also has the advantages of simple structure, low production cost and effective reduction of economic burden of patients, and is more beneficial to clinical popularization and application.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an induction coil assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall structure of a magnetic field sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a magnetic field sensor provided in a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the degrees of freedom of a three-dimensional magnetic field positioning sensor;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a partial structure of a magnetic field sensor according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a micro-induction coil according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the axis of the induction coil assembly and the axis of the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a magnetic field sensor according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, the reference numerals are as follows:

an induction coil assembly-100; coil bodies 110, 110A, 110B; coil units-111, 111A, 111B; coil sections-1111, 1111A, 1111B; a substrate-120; a first signal outlet-130; a first connection point-131; a second connection point-132;

a housing-200; colloid-210;

miniature magnetic field positioning sensor-300; mini-induction coil-310; second signal pin-out-320.

Detailed Description

The induction coil assembly and the magnetic field sensor according to the present invention are described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description. The advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description. It should be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and are all to a non-precise scale, merely for the purpose of facilitating and clearly aiding in the description of embodiments of the invention. For a better understanding of the invention with objects, features and advantages, refer to the drawings. It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the drawings are shown only in connection with the present disclosure for the understanding and reading of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims, and any structural modifications, proportional changes, or dimensional adjustments, which may be made by the present disclosure, should fall within the scope of the present disclosure under the same or similar circumstances as the effects and objectives attained by the present invention. Specific design features of the invention disclosed herein, including for example, specific dimensions, orientations, positions, and configurations, will be determined in part by the specific intended application and use environment. In the embodiments described below, the same reference numerals are used in common between the drawings to denote the same parts or parts having the same functions, and the repetitive description thereof may be omitted. In this specification, like reference numerals and letters are used to designate like items, and thus once an item is defined in one drawing, no further discussion thereof is necessary in subsequent drawings. Additionally, if a method described herein comprises a series of steps, and the order of the steps presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which the steps may be performed, and some of the described steps may be omitted and/or some other steps not described herein may be added to the method.

It is noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents, the term "or" is generally used in the sense of comprising "and/or" and the term "several" is generally used in the sense of comprising "at least one," the term "at least two" is generally used in the sense of comprising "two or more," the term "plurality" is generally used in the sense of comprising "two or more," and the term "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying any relative importance or number of features indicated.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings are merely for convenience in describing the present invention and to simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, unless explicitly stated and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "secured" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

In the present invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature "above" or "below" a second feature may include both the first and second features being in direct contact, as well as the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact with each other through additional features therebetween. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

Furthermore, in the description herein, reference to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the various embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the various embodiments or examples may be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction.

As described in the background art, the existing magnetic field sensor has the problems of difficult guarantee of positioning precision, poor mechanical strength, easy damage and higher manufacturing cost due to the limitation of the size, so that the final product has higher price and is not beneficial to application and popularization. The inventor researches of the application find that the magnetic field sensor applied to the outside of a patient can be reasonably widened in size, and based on the magnetic field sensor, the inventor of the application innovatively provides an induction coil assembly and the magnetic field sensor to solve the problems that the existing small-volume sensor has more disadvantages in positioning accuracy, reliability, cost and the like, has heavier economic burden on the patient and is not beneficial to clinical application and popularization. As understood by those skilled in the art, the length dimension of the coil unit referred to herein means the largest one of the maximum cross-sectional dimension (the diameter of the coil section located at the outermost ring or the length of the long side), the minimum cross-sectional dimension (the length of the short side of the coil section located at the outermost ring) and the axial dimension of the coil unit, and the thickness dimension of the coil unit referred to herein means the smallest one of the maximum cross-sectional dimension (the diameter of the coil section located at the outermost ring or the length of the long side), the minimum cross-sectional dimension (the length of the short side of the coil section located at the outermost ring) and the axial dimension of the coil unit. Furthermore, it should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the cross section of the coil unit is perpendicular to the axial direction of the coil unit.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic diagram of an overall structure of an induction coil assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. As shown in fig. 1, the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention includes a coil body 110 and a substrate 120 connected, wherein the coil body 110 includes a coil unit 111; the coil unit 111 includes a plurality of coil segments 1111 connected to each other. Therefore, by fixing the coil body 110 on the substrate 120, the coil body 110 can be supported, so that the overall mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is improved, and the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is prevented from being damaged due to too poor mechanical strength in the use process. Further, the substrate 120 has a planar structure, so that the induction coil assembly 100 as a whole may also have a substantially planar structure. In addition, by arranging the substrate 120, the coil unit 111 in the induction coil assembly 100 can be manufactured into a larger size, so that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, and the positioning accuracy is effectively improved.

Specifically, the material of the substrate 120 is preferably a material with a permeability close to 1, for example, the material of the substrate 120 may be epoxy resin, glass fiber, or the like.

It should be noted that, although fig. 1 is described by taking an example in which the coil body 110 includes one coil unit 111, in other embodiments, the coil body 110 may further include a plurality of (including two) coil units 111, and for each of the coil units 111, the coil units 111 include a plurality of coil segments 1111 connected to each other. Preferably, when the coil body 110 includes a plurality of coil units 111 connected in series with each other, the plurality of coil units 111 are connected in series with each other, and the plurality of coil units 111 are coaxially disposed, whereby, by coaxially disposing the plurality of coil units 111, the lateral dimension of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can be prevented from being excessively large while ensuring that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can receive a strong magnetic field signal, so as to reduce the production cost of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention.

With continued reference to fig. 1, as shown in fig. 1, in an exemplary embodiment, the coil sections 1111 of the coil unit 111 are located on the same plane (i.e., the coil unit 111 has a single-layer structure, the coil unit 111 is disposed in a planar manner), and the diameter (the coil sections have a substantially annular structure) or the side length (the coil sections have a substantially polygonal structure) of each coil section 1111 of each coil unit is gradually increased from inside to outside. Thus, the single-layer coil unit 111 can further reduce the overall thickness of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention, and thus can further reduce the production cost of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention.

It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the coil segments 1111 of each turn in the coil unit 111 may be disposed spirally along the axial direction of the coil unit 111, that is, the coil unit 111 may have a multi-layer structure, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Specifically, when the coil unit 111 has a multi-layer structure, the diameters or side lengths (including the side lengths of the long sides and the side lengths of the short sides) of the coil sections 1111 of the coils 111 may be equal, or may be partially or completely unequal, which is not limited in the present invention. Preferably, when the coil unit 111 has a multi-layer structure, the diameters or side lengths (including the length of the long side and the length of the short side) of the coil sections 1111 of each turn in the coil unit 111 are equal, so that the processing of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can be more facilitated, and the production cost can be further reduced.

Specifically, the outer shape of each of the coil sections 1111 in the coil unit 111 may be circular, rectangular, or other shapes. Since the circular shape has the largest area under the condition of a certain circumference, the outer shape of the coil section 1111 is preferably circular, and thus, the strength of the magnetic field signal sensed by the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can be further improved by adopting the circular coil section 1111, and the positioning accuracy of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can be further improved.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ratio of the length dimension to the thickness dimension of the coil unit 111 is greater than 5:1. The arrangement can ensure that the length dimension of the coil body 110 in the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is larger, so that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, thereby effectively improving the positioning precision, effectively reducing the production cost of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention, improving the overall mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention, and ensuring that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is not easy to damage. Meanwhile, because the thickness of the coil body 110 in the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is smaller, the overall thickness of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be reduced, so that the production cost of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be reduced, and the magnetic field sensor can be better applied to occasions such as the body surface of a target object.

It should be noted that, when the outer shape of each of the coil sections 1111 in the coil unit 111 is circular, the length dimension of the coil unit 111 refers to the larger one of the diameter of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost ring of the coil unit 111 and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111, as will be understood by those skilled in the art; the thickness dimension refers to the smaller one of the diameter of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost ring of the coil unit 111 and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111; when the outer shape of each of the coil sections 1111 in the coil unit 111 is rectangular, the length dimension of the coil unit 111 refers to the largest one of the length of the long side, the length of the short side, and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111 of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost ring of the coil unit 111; the thickness dimension refers to the smallest one of the length of the long side, the length of the short side, and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111 of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost ring of the coil unit 111.

In an exemplary embodiment, the sum of the areas enclosed by the coil segments 1111 of the coils 111 is not less than 500 square millimeters. Specifically, the induced electromotive force generated by the coil body 110 in the magnetic field is proportional to the sum of the areas (for convenience of explanation, the area of the coil segment is hereinafter referred to as the area of the coil segment) of the area surrounded by the coil segments 1111 of each coil body 110, and the larger the area of the coil segment, the stronger the magnetic field induction signal can be received, so as to facilitate accurate positioning in the magnetic field. Meanwhile, the induced electromotive force generated by the coil body 110 in the magnetic field needs to be matched with the receiving circuit, and cannot exceed the receiving range of the receiving circuit, so that accurate three-dimensional positioning can be performed. As a result, the smaller the coil segment area of the coil body 110 is, the smaller the induced electromotive force generated by the coil body 110 is, which results in no recognition by a signal receiving processing system (signal detecting device) or a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio, thereby affecting positioning accuracy. If the coil section area of the coil body 110 is too large, the induced electromotive force generated by the coil body 110 in the magnetic field exceeds the upper limit of the signal receiving and processing system (signal detecting device), which results in erroneous processing results and failure to give the positioning result. Thus, the present invention can ensure that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention can achieve accurate positioning by setting the sum of the areas surrounded by the coil segments 1111 of the coils 111 to be not less than 500 square millimeters.

It should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, in order to make the sum of the areas enclosed by the coil sections 1111 of each turn in the coil unit 111 be not less than 500 square millimeters, it is necessary to reasonably set the size and structure of the coil body 110, for example, when the induction coil assembly 100 with a small external dimension (small lateral dimension) is required, the number of the coil units 111 in the coil body 110 may be increased to ensure that the lateral dimension of each turn of the coil section 1111 is reduced in the case that the coil body 110 has a certain coil section area.

In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost circumference of the coil unit 111 or the length of the long side or the length of the short side is greater than 5mm and less than 50mm. Therefore, the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can not only receive stronger magnetic field signals, but also ensure that the whole size of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is not overlarge, thereby reducing the cost of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention.

Further, the thickness of the coil unit 111 is less than or equal to 4mm. Therefore, the overall thickness of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be prevented from being too thick, and the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be used conveniently.

In an exemplary embodiment, the total resistance of the coil body 110 is no more than 2000 ohms. Thus, this arrangement may further ensure that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention is capable of receiving stronger magnetic field signals.

Preferably, the total resistance of the coil body 110 does not exceed 200 ohms. Thus, by controlling the total resistance of the coil body 110 to be within 200 ohms, the quality of the magnetic field signal sensed by the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be further ensured.

In an exemplary embodiment, the coil unit 111 further includes a magnetic core around which the coil segments 1111 of each turn in the coil unit 111 are disposed. Thus, by providing the magnetic core, the magnetic induction signal can be amplified, and at this time, the number of turns of the coil section 1111 of the coil unit 111 and the sum of the areas surrounded by the coil sections 1111 of each turn of the coil unit 111 can be reduced accordingly, that is, at this time, the number of the coil sections 1111 can be reduced to some extent, and the volume can be reduced. In addition, since the coil segments 1111 of the coils 111 may be wound around the magnetic core, the magnetic core may also provide support for the coils 111. Specifically, the magnetic core is made of a soft magnetic material (such as ferrite) with high magnetic permeability.

It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the addition of the magnetic core will also increase the cost additionally. Since the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the present invention has very strong magnetic field signal induction performance even without providing a magnetic core, it is preferable that the coil unit 111 of the present invention does not need to be additionally provided with a magnetic core.

Further, as shown in fig. 1, the induction coil assembly 100 further includes a first signal lead 130 connected to the coil body 110, the first signal lead 130 being used to connect the coil body 110 and a signal detection device (e.g., a three-dimensional mapping device). Thus, the magnetic field intensity signal induced by the coil body 110 can be sent to the signal detection device through the first signal outgoing line 130, so that the signal detection device can be positioned according to the magnetic field intensity signal induced by the coil body 110. Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, the first signal outgoing line 130 is a twisted pair, one of the wires of the first signal outgoing line 130 is connected to the head end of the coil body 110 to form a first connection point 131, and the other wire of the first signal outgoing line 130 is connected to the tail end of the coil body 110 to form a second connection point 132. Thus, by arranging the first signal outgoing line 130 in a twisted pair structure, the anti-interference performance of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be effectively improved.

In an exemplary embodiment, the coil unit 111 is formed from a plurality of turns of coil segments 1111 formed from enameled wire, i.e. the coil unit 111 may be formed from enameled wire wound into a plurality of turns of coil segments 1111. It should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the coil unit 111 formed by winding the enameled wire may be the single-layer coil unit 111 described above, or may be the multi-layer coil unit 111 described above. Furthermore, it should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the coil unit 111 formed by the multi-turn enameled wire coil sections 1111 may be fixed to the substrate 120 by glue or pressing.

In an exemplary embodiment, the coil unit 111 is formed from coil segments 1111 formed by a multi-turn printing, i.e. the coil unit 111 is formed from a plurality of turns of wires on a rigid or flexible printed circuit board. It should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the coil unit 111 formed by the multi-turn printed coil sections 1111 may be the single-layer structure of the coil unit 111 described above, or may be the multi-layer structure of the coil unit 111 described above. It should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the substrate 120 provided with the printed coil sections 1111 on the surface is the printed circuit board, that is, the coil unit 111 formed by the multi-turn printed coil sections 1111 and the substrate 120 are in an integral structure. Because the coil unit 111 formed by the multi-turn printed coil sections 1111 and the substrate 120 are in an integrated structure, the overall mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention can be further improved, so that the induction coil assembly 100 provided by the invention is not easy to damage. In addition, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the number of coil units 111 included in the coil body 110 may be increased by increasing the number of layers of the printed wiring board.

Specifically, taking a double-sided printed wiring board as an example,the top layer and the bottom layer of the double-sided printed circuit board can be provided with one coil unit 111 (i.e. a plurality of printed coil sections 1111 can be provided), and the two coil units 111 are arranged in phase, so as to facilitate superposition of induced electromotive forces, thereby enhancing magnetic field induction signals. For example, each coil unit 111 includes 10 coils 1111, wherein the diameter of the coil section 1111 located at the innermost ring is about 20mm, the width of the wire surrounding the coil section 1111 is 0.127mm, the distance between two adjacent coils 1111 is 0.127mm, that is, the diameter of each coil section 1111 increases gradually from inside to outside, and the diameter of the coil section 1111 located at the outermost ring is 24.8mm. The area of the area enclosed by each coil section 1111 in the two coil units 111 is about 7920mm ² 。

The present invention further provides a magnetic field sensor, please refer to fig. 2 and 3, wherein fig. 2 schematically shows an overall structure of the magnetic field sensor according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a magnetic field sensor according to a first embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the magnetic field sensor includes a housing 200 and a set of the induction coil assemblies 100 described above, the induction coil assemblies 100 being disposed within the housing 200. Because the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention comprises the induction coil assembly 100, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, so that the positioning accuracy is effectively improved, and meanwhile, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention has the advantages of simple structure, low production cost and capability of effectively reducing the economic burden of patients, and is more beneficial to clinical popularization and application. In addition, the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention has other advantages of the induction coil assembly 100 described above, and will not be described in detail herein. Although fig. 2 illustrates the overall shape of the magnetic field sensor as a circle, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the overall shape of the magnetic field sensor may be elliptical, rectangular, or other shapes, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it should be noted that the induction coil assembly 100 and the housing 200 may be fixed together by glue or other means, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

With continued reference to fig. 2 and 3, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the signal connection wires of the induction coil assembly 100 extend outside the housing 200 to connect with a signal detection device (e.g., a three-dimensional mapping device).

Preferably, the material of the housing 200 is a flexible material. Thus, by making the flexible housing 200 of a flexible material, the comfort of the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention when in contact with the skin surface of a target object may be improved.

With continued reference to fig. 2 and 3, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, a surface of the housing 200 for contacting the body surface of the target object is coated with a gel 210. Thus, by providing the colloid 210 on one surface of the housing 200, the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention can be more conveniently fixed to the body surface of the target object. Further, the material of the gel 210 is preferably a material suitable for contacting with human skin.

It should be noted that when the magnetic field sensor includes a set of the induction coil assemblies 100 described above and does not include the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 of the prior art, the magnetic field sensor is a 5-degree-of-freedom sensor, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Referring to fig. 4, a schematic diagram of the degrees of freedom of the three-dimensional magnetic field positioning sensor is schematically shown. As shown in fig. 4, the so-called 5 degrees of freedom in the 5-degree-of-freedom sensor include three-axis coordinates x, y, z, and an up-down pitch angle α and a left-right heading angle γ. The 6 degrees of freedom in the 6-degree-of-freedom sensor increases the own rotation angle β (i.e., the angle of rotation along its axis) on the basis of the 5 degrees of freedom.

In order to enable the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention to achieve measurement with 6 degrees of freedom, please refer to fig. 5 and 6, wherein fig. 5 schematically shows a schematic diagram of a partial structure of the magnetic field sensor provided by the second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 6 schematically illustrates a structure of a micro induction coil 310 according to a specific example of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5 and 6, in the present embodiment, the magnetic field sensor includes a housing 200 (not shown), and a set of the induction coil assembly 100 and a micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 disposed in the housing 200, wherein an axis of the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 is at a first angle with respect to an axis of the coil body 110, and the first angle is not equal to 0 °. Therefore, one of the induction coil assembly 100 and the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 can detect the self rotation angle beta of the other, so that the 6-degree-of-freedom magnetic field sensor is formed, and other redundant degree-of-freedom data can be mutually calibrated to further improve the positioning accuracy of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention.

It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art can appreciate, the 6-degree-of-freedom magnetic field sensor composed of the above-described induction coil assembly 100 and the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 in the prior art needs to be calibrated before use to determine the positional and directional relationship of the coil body 110 in the induction coil assembly 100 and the micro coil body 110 in the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300, while marking the specifications of the coil body 110 in the induction coil assembly 100 and the micro coil body 110 in the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300. Furthermore, it should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the first signal lead-out wire 130 of the induction coil assembly 100 and the second signal lead-out wire 320 of the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 are both used for connection with a signal detection device (e.g., a three-dimensional mapping device).

Further, please refer to fig. 7, which schematically illustrates a relationship between an axis of the induction coil assembly 100 (an axis of the coil body 110) and an axis of the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 (an axis of the micro induction coil 310) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, preferably, the axis of the micro-coil body 110 in the micro-magnetic field positioning sensor 300 is perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the axis of the coil body 110 of the induction coil assembly 100, i.e., the first angle is 90 ° or near 90 °. Thus, this arrangement can further facilitate one of the induction coil assembly 100 and the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 to detect the self-rotation angle β of the other.

Further, as shown in fig. 5, the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 is provided inside the coil body 110. Thus, by disposing the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 inside the coil body 110, the problem of the overall size of the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention being too large due to the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 can be effectively prevented.

Preferably, a recess (not shown) for mounting the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 is provided on the base plate 120 of the induction coil assembly 100, the recess corresponding to the central axis position of the coil body 110. Thus, by mounting the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 in the recess on the substrate 120 of the induction coil assembly 100, not only can the mounting of the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 be facilitated, but also the production cost of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention can be considered. It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the thickness of the substrate 120 may be about 1.6mm as a conventional printed circuit board, while the outer diameter of the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 in the prior art is generally not greater than 1mm, so that the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 may be fixed by placing the micro magnetic field positioning sensor 300 in a groove on the substrate 120. In addition, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the dimensions of the recess are slightly larger than the external dimensions of the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300, and the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor 300 may be fixed by glue after being placed in the recess.

With continued reference to fig. 8, a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a magnetic field sensor according to a third embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown. As shown in fig. 8, in the present embodiment, the magnetic field sensor includes a housing 200 (not shown in the drawings) and two sets of the induction coil assemblies 100 disposed in the housing 200, wherein an axis of a coil body 110A of one set of the induction coil assemblies 100 is at a second angle with an axis of a coil body 110B of the other set of the induction coil assemblies 100, the second angle is not equal to 0 °, and the coil body 110A and the coil body 110B are insulated from each other. Therefore, one of the coil body 110A and the coil body 110B can detect the self rotation angle β of the other, so as to form a 6-degree-of-freedom magnetic field sensor, and other redundant degree-of-freedom data can be mutually calibrated to further improve the positioning accuracy of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 8, the axis of the coil body 110A is perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the axis of the coil body 110B, i.e., the second angle is 90 ° or approximately 90 °. Thus, with this arrangement, it is possible to more easily detect the self rotation angle β of one of the coil body 110A and the coil body 110B.

Further, as shown in fig. 8, the coil units 111A in the coil body 110A are arranged in a planar shape, and the coil units 111B in the coil body 110B are arranged in a spiral shape. Therefore, the arrangement can be more convenient for realizing the arrangement that the axis of the coil body 110A is perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the axis of the coil body 110B, and further reduces the production cost of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention.

Further, as shown in fig. 8, the coil unit 111B arranged in a spiral shape is wound around the outside of the coil unit 111A arranged in a planar shape. Therefore, the arrangement can save space, is beneficial to reducing the overall size of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention, and further can reduce the production cost of the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention. It should be noted that, although fig. 8 is described by taking the example in which the coil body 110A includes two coil units 111A connected in series, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, this does not limit the present invention, and in other embodiments, the coil body 110A may further include one coil unit 111A, three coil units 111A connected in series with each other, or more coil units 111A connected in series with each other. Similarly, although fig. 8 illustrates the coil body 110B as including one coil unit 111B, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that this is not a limitation of the present invention, and in other embodiments, the coil body 110B may include two or more coil units 111B connected in series with each other. It should be noted that, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the outer shape of each coil section 1111 in the coil unit 111A shown in fig. 8 is rectangular, the length of the long side and the length of the short side of each coil section 1111 are gradually increased from inside to outside, the outer shape of each coil section 1111 in the coil unit 111B is rectangular, the length of the long side and the length of the short side of each coil section 1111 are equal, and the lengths of the short sides are also equal. Since the length of the long side of the outermost coil section of the coil unit 111A is longest and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111A is shortest, the length dimension of the coil unit 111A is the length of the long side of the outermost coil section and the thickness dimension of the coil unit 111A is the axial dimension thereof. Similarly, since the length of the long side of the coil section of the coil unit 111B is longest and the axial dimension of the coil unit 111B is shortest, the length dimension of the coil unit 111B is the length of the long side of any coil section and the thickness dimension of the coil unit 111B is the axial dimension thereof.

Specifically, the coil unit 111A may be formed by winding the enamel wire into a plurality of coil segments 1111 on the same plane, or may be formed by printing a plurality of coil segments 1111 on the same plane. Similarly, the coil unit 111B may be formed by winding the enamel wire into a plurality of coil segments 1111 on different planes, or may be formed by a plurality of coil segments 1111 printed on different planes.

Preferably, the two groups of induction coil assemblies 100 share the same substrate 120, thereby further reducing the production cost of the magnetic field sensor provided by the present invention. Specifically, after the coil body 110A is fixed to the substrate 120 (the coil body 110A may be directly printed on the substrate 120, or may be fixed to the substrate 120 by glue or other means), the coil body 110A and the substrate 120 may be used together as a support structure for the coil body 110B, and in some embodiments, enamelled wires may be wound multiple times on the support structure formed by the coil body 110A and the substrate 120 to form the coil unit 111B, and when the coil body 110B includes multiple coil units 111B, multiple enamelled wires may be wound multiple times at different positions on the support structure formed by the coil body 110A and the substrate 120 to form multiple coil units 111B. In other embodiments, the coil unit 111B may be printed on a supporting structure formed by the coil body 110A and the substrate 120, and when the coil body 110B includes a plurality of coil units 111B, a plurality of coil units 111B may be printed at different positions on a supporting structure formed by the coil body 110A and the substrate 120. It should be noted that, when the coil units 111A and 111B are each composed of a multi-turn printed coil section 1111, in order to realize that the coil units 111A and 111B are disposed insulated from each other, an insulating material may be coated on the surface of the coil unit 111A for contact with the coil unit 111B, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Further, the substrate 120 may have a three-layer structure, as shown in fig. 8, and the coil units 111A and 111B may form a four-layer structure and are respectively staggered with one layer structure of the substrate 120, specifically, one layer structure of the substrate 120 is disposed on the upper surface and the lower surface of each coil unit 111A, the connecting wires of the two coil units 111A are disposed in one layer structure in a penetrating manner, so as to realize the series connection of the two coil units 111A, and the coil units 111B are wound around the periphery of the coil units 111A and are isolated from the coil units 111A by the layer structure of the substrate 120.

In summary, compared with the prior art, the induction coil assembly and the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention have the following advantages:

the induction coil assembly comprises a coil body and a substrate which are connected, wherein the coil body comprises one or more coil units, the coil units comprise a plurality of coils which are connected with each other, the coil sections of the coils are positioned on the same plane, and the diameters or side lengths of the coil sections of the coils are gradually increased from inside to outside; or each coil section is spirally arranged along the axial direction of the coil unit. The induction coil assembly provided by the invention comprises the coil body and the substrate which are connected, so that the substrate can provide support for the coil body, the integral mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is improved, and the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is prevented from being damaged due to poor mechanical strength in the use process. In addition, through the arrangement of the substrate, the coil units in the induction coil assembly can be manufactured into larger sizes, so that the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, and the positioning accuracy is effectively improved.

Further, the ratio of the length dimension to the thickness dimension of the coil unit is greater than 5:1. Therefore, the length and the size of the coil body in the induction coil assembly provided by the invention are ensured to be larger, so that the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, the positioning precision is effectively improved, the production cost of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention can be effectively reduced, the integral mechanical strength of the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is improved, and the induction coil assembly provided by the invention is not easy to damage. Meanwhile, the thickness of the coil body in the induction coil assembly is smaller, so that the overall thickness of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly can be reduced, the production cost of the magnetic field sensor using the induction coil assembly can be reduced, and the magnetic field sensor can be better applied to occasions such as the body surface of a target object.

Because the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention comprises the induction coil assembly provided by the invention, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention can sense stronger magnetic field signals, so that the positioning accuracy is effectively improved, and meanwhile, the magnetic field sensor provided by the invention also has the advantages of simple structure, low production cost and effective reduction of economic burden of patients, and is more beneficial to clinical popularization and application.

The above description is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and any alterations and modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the above disclosure shall fall within the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is intended to include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the invention or the equivalents thereof.

Claims (12)

1. An induction coil assembly comprising a coil body and a substrate connected, the coil body comprising one or more coil units;

the coil unit comprises a plurality of coils of coil segments connected with each other; wherein,

the coil sections of each circle are positioned on the same plane, and the lengths of the coil sections of each circle are gradually increased from inside to outside; or each coil section is spirally arranged along the axial direction of the coil unit.

2. The induction coil assembly of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a length dimension to a thickness dimension of said coil units is greater than 5:1, and a sum of areas enclosed by said coil segments of each of said coil units is not less than 500 square millimeters.

3. The induction coil assembly of claim 1, wherein said substrate is a planar substrate and said coil segments have a circular ring-shaped configuration.

4. The induction coil assembly of claim 1, wherein said coil unit further comprises a magnetic core, each turn of said coil section in said coil unit being disposed about said magnetic core.

5. The induction coil assembly of claim 1, wherein said plurality of coil units are connected in series with each other and said plurality of coil units are coaxially disposed.

6. The induction coil assembly of claim 1, further comprising a signal lead-out wire connected to said coil body, said signal lead-out wire for connecting said coil body and a signal detection device.

7. The induction coil assembly of claim 6, wherein said signal lead wires are twisted pair wires, one of said signal lead wires being connected to a head end of said coil body and the other of said signal lead wires being connected to a tail end of said coil body.

8. A magnetic field sensor comprising a housing and at least one set of induction coil assemblies as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, said induction coil assemblies being disposed within said housing.

9. The magnetic field sensor of claim 8, wherein the magnetic field sensor comprises a set of the induction coil assemblies and a miniature magnetic field positioning sensor, wherein the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor has an axis of the miniature coil body at a first angle with respect to the axis of the coil body, the first angle being different from 0 °.

10. The magnetic field sensor of claim 9, wherein the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor is disposed inside the coil body, a groove is disposed on the substrate, and the miniature magnetic field positioning sensor is disposed in the groove.

11. The magnetic field sensor of claim 8, comprising two sets of the induction coil assemblies, axes of the coil bodies of the two sets of the induction coil assemblies being at a second angle, the second angle being unequal to 0 °, and the coil bodies of the two sets of the induction coil assemblies being insulated from each other.

12. The magnetic field sensor of claim 11, wherein the coil units in one set of the coil bodies are arranged in a planar form, the coil units in the other set of the coil bodies are arranged in a spiral form, and the coil units arranged in the spiral form are wound outside the coil units arranged in the planar form.