A Portable 6-D Surgical Instrument Magnetic Localization System With Dynamic Error Correction

Abstract

Accurate localization of surgical instruments is critical to ensuring the safety and efficacy of surgical procedures, particularly in minimally invasive environments. Magnetic localization, as a non-contact and radiation-free method, is widely employed in applications such as endoscopic navigation and robotic-assisted surgery. However, traditional magnetic localization systems are susceptible to measurement noise, sensor-related biases, and environmental disturbances, and they lack mechanisms for real-time adaptive correction of these errors. This often results in cumulative localization inaccuracies, especially in dynamic surgical scenarios. To address these challenges, we propose a portable 6D surgical instrument magnetic localization system incorporating a dynamic error correction framework. Based on the adaptive robust filtering which combines extended Kalman filter, robust M-estimator and dynamic process noise adjustment, this method incorporates physical priors to further enhance the robustness and adaptability of the filter to complex environments and abnormal measurements. Combined with this framework, the visor-shaped magnetic sensor array system achieves 6D localization with an average position error of 2.01 mm and an orientation error of 2.79° for surgical instruments with two orthogonally placed magnets. The system improves accuracy, robustness, and adaptability, providing a reliable and effective solution for precision surgical applications, especially in complex and dynamic environments.