Electromagnetic tracking in guided medical interventions

Electromagnetic tracking is a navigation technology used in guided medical interventions. The technology is gaining popularity in the fields of robotic surgery, catheter navigation and human-machine interface design. Small magnetic sensors provide enable the position and orientation of a surgical instrument to be tracked in real-time without line of sight. This paper discusses how low frequency electromagnetic fields are used as a tracking medium to precisely estimate the pose of magnetic sensors. The quasi-static approach to magnetic field modelling is presented along with number of pose estimation methods. Advantages and disadvantages of each system type are also discussed.