Magnet Location Estimation Technology in 3D Using MI Sensors

This paper presents a system for estimating the position of a magnet using a magnetic sensor. An algorithm is presented to analyze the waveform and output voltage values of the magnetic field generated at each position when the magnet moves and to estimate the position of the magnet based on the analyzed data. Here, the magnet is sufficiently small to be inserted into a blood vessel and has a micro-magnetic field of hundreds of nanoteslas owing to the small size and shape of the guide wire. In this study, a highly sensitive magneto-impedance (MI) sensor was used to detect these micro-magnetic fields. Nine MI sensors were arranged in a 3×3 configuration to detect a magnetic field that changes according to the position of the magnet through the MI sensor, and the voltage value output was polynomially regressed to specify a position value for each voltage value. The accuracy was confirmed by comparing the actual position value with the estimated position value by expanding it from a 1D straight line to a 3D space. Additionally, we could estimate the position of the magnet within a 3% error