Real-time cannula navigation in biological tissue with high temporal and spatial resolution based on impedance spectroscopy

In many medical applications a well-directed positioning of a cannula in body tissue is mandatory. Especially the accurate placing of the cannula tip in the tissue is important for efficient drug delivery or for accessing blood vessels and nerves. This paper presents a new approach for a universal cannula navigation system based on tissue classification on the cannula tip by impedance spectroscopy. The cannula serves as coaxial, open ended waveguide which is connected to remote measurement equipment. Objective of the new system is to reach a high spatial and temporal resolution for dynamic cannula guidance. Therefore the proposed coaxial cannula design has been analyzed by Finite Element Simulation to investigate the sensitivity of the cannula tip. For fast tissue impedance spectrum measurement the Time-Domain-Reflectometry method is used in order to achieve a high temporal resolution. Measurement data derived in the laboratory is analyzed and interpreted using the general Cole-Cole model for tissue. Based on the results we propose to use a chirp signal for impedance measurement in order to improve the sensitivity of the system towards specific tissue properties.