UV exposed optical fibers with frequency domain reflectometry for device tracking in intra-arterial procedures

Abstract

Shape tracking of medical devices using strain sensing properties in optical fibers has seen increased attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel guidance system for intra-arterial procedures using a distributed strain sensing device based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) to track the shape of a catheter. Tracking enhancement is provided by exposing a fiber triplet to a focused ultraviolet beam, producing high scattering properties. Contrary to typical quasi-distributed strain sensors, we propose a truly distributed strain sensing approach, which allows to reconstruct a fiber triplet in real-time. A 3D roadmap of the hepatic anatomy integrated with a 4D MR imaging sequence allows to navigate the catheter within the pre-interventional anatomy, and map the blood flow velocities in the arterial tree. We employed Riemannian anisotropic heat kernels to map the sensed data to the pre-interventional model. Experiments in synthetic phantoms and an in vivo model are presented. Results show that the tracking accuracy is suitable for interventional tracking applications, with a mean 3D shape reconstruction errors of 1.6 ± 0.3 mm. This study demonstrates the promising potential of MR-compatible UV-exposed OFDR optical fibers for non-ionizing device guidance in intra-arterial procedures.