穿刺針と併用するレーザー測距デバイスによる針刺入深さの計測法

抄録

The safety and reliability of the vascular access puncture are fundamental in hemodialysis treatment. Placement of the cannula needle becomes problematic when the vessel condition becomes hard for advanced prediction. Improving the quality of the needle placement, in the indication of the ultra-sound guided puncture, for instance, proper insertion depth sensing is necessary to identify the needle tip location. This manuscript critically discusses measuring the needle insertion depth using a laser ranging and an inertial sensor mounted on the puncture needle. Experimental equipment was developed, which consisted of the laser displacement sensor and the tri-axis accelerometer mounting on the needle-holding jig. The jig provides a variety of insertion angles as the experimental condition and ensures smooth puncture movement in manual operation. The proposed method successfully assesses insertion depth by correcting the effects of sensor mount alignment to some degree, but its tolerability and calibration procedures still need to be improved.