Magnetic sensor assembly

Claim 2

A medical magnetic position tracking system, comprising: a probe for insertion into a patient; a first magneto-resistive field sensor in a first surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure first and second components of a magnetic field projected onto respective different first and second axes with respect to a spatial orientation of the first field sensor and to produce first position signals indicative of the measured first and second components; a second magneto-resistive field sensor in a second surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure at least a third component of the magnetic field projected onto at least a third axis with respect to the spatial orientation of the second field sensor, and to produce second position signals indicative of the measured third component; and a substrate assembly having the first and second field sensors surface-mounted thereon, which is coupled to orient the first field sensor in a first spatial orientation and to orient the second field sensor in a second spatial orientation so that the third axis is oriented out of a plane containing the first and second axes; and a processing unit for receiving the first position signals and the second position signals and calculating six-dimensional coordinate information of the probe.

Claim 3

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises a flexible substrate material bent so as to orient the first and second field sensors.

Claim 4

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 2 , wherein the flexible substrate material comprises one or more slots so as to enable bending the substrate assembly.

Claim 5

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises two or more sections interlocked into one another so as to orient the first and second field sensors.

Claim 6

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 4 , wherein the two or more sections comprise at least one slot so as to enable interlocking the sections into one another.

Claim 7

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) material.

Claim 8

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 6 , and comprising electrical conductors disposed on the PCB material so as to provide electrical interconnection for at least one of the first and second field sensors.

Claim 9

The medical magnetic position tracking system according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor assembly has a size smaller than 2 by 2 by 4 mm.

Claim 10

Medical position sensing apparatus, comprising: one or more field generators, which are arranged to generate a magnetic field; a probe for insertion into a patient, the probe comprising sensor assembly, comprising: a first magneto-resistive field sensor in a first surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure first and second components of the magnetic field projected onto respective different first and second axes with respect to a spatial orientation of the first field sensor and to produce first position signals indicative of the measured first and second components; a second magneto-resistive field sensor in a second surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure at least a third component of the magnetic field projected onto at least a third axis with respect to the spatial orientation of the second field sensor, and to produce second position signals indicative of the measured third component; and a substrate assembly having the first and second field sensors surface-mounted thereon, which is coupled to orient the first field sensor in a first spatial orientation and to orient the second field sensor in a second spatial orientation, so that the third axis is oriented out of a plane containing the first and second axes; and a control module, which is arranged to receive and send the first and second position signals and a processing unit for receiving the first and second position signals and to calculate a spatial position of the sensor assembly with respect to the one or more field generators responsively to the position signals by calculating up to six-dimensional coordinate information of the probe.

Claim 11

Medical position sensing apparatus, comprising: one or more field generators, which are arranged to generate a magnetic field; a probe for insertion into a patient, the probe comprising sensor assembly, comprising: a first magneto-resistive field sensor in a first surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure first and second components of the magnetic field projected onto respective different first and second axes with respect to a spatial orientation of the first field sensor and to produce first position signals indicative of the measured first and second components; a second magneto-resistive field sensor in a second surface-mountable package, which is arranged to measure at least a third component of the magnetic field projected onto at least a third axis with respect to the spatial orientation of the second field sensor, and to produce second position signals indicative of the measured third component; and a substrate assembly having the first and second field sensors surface-mounted thereon, which is coupled to orient the first field sensor in a first spatial orientation and to orient the second field sensor in a second spatial orientation, so that the third axis is oriented out of a plane containing the first and second axes; and a control module, which is arranged to receive and send the first and second position signals and a processing unit for receiving the first and second position signals and to calculate a spatial position of the sensor assembly with respect to the one or more field generators responsively to the position signals by calculating up to six-dimensional coordinate information of the probe.

Claim 12

The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the magnetic field comprises a direct current (DC) magnetic field.

Claim 13

The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises a flexible substrate material bent so as to orient the first and second field sensors.

Claim 14

The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises two or more sections interlocked into one another so as to orient the first and second field sensors.

Claim 15

The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the substrate assembly comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) material.