Electromagnetically tracked placement of a peripherally inserted central catheter

This paper describes a computer program to utilize electromagnetic tracking guidance during insertion of peripherally inserted central catheters. Placement of a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line is a relatively simple, routine procedure in which a catheter is inserted into the veins of the lower arm and threaded up the arm to the vena cava to sit just above the heart. However, the procedure requires x-ray verification of the catheter position and is usually done under continuous fluoroscopic guidance. The computer program is designed to replace fluoroscopic guidance in this procedure and make PICC line placement a bedside procedure. This would greatly reduce the time and resources dedicated to this procedure. The physician first goes through a quick registration procedure to register the patient space with the computer screen coordinates. Once registration is completed, the program provides a continuous, real-time display of the position of the catheter tip overlaid on an x-ray image of the patient on an adjacent computer screen. Both the position and orientation of the catheter tip is shown. The display is very similar to that shown when using fluoroscopy.