Shape tracking of medical devices using strain sensing properties in optical
fibers has seen increased attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose
a novel guidance system for intra-arterial procedures using a distributed
strain sensing device based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) to
track the shape of a catheter. Tracking enhancement is provided by exposing a
fiber triplet to a focused ultraviolet beam, producing high scattering
properties. Contrary to typical quasi-distributed strain sensors, we propose a
truly distributed strain sensing approach, which allows to reconstruct a fiber
triplet in real-time. A 3D roadmap of the hepatic anatomy integrated with a 4D
MR imaging sequence allows to navigate the catheter within the
pre-interventional anatomy, and map the blood flow velocities in the arterial
tree. We employed Riemannian anisotropic heat kernels to map the sensed data to
the pre-interventional model. Experiments in synthetic phantoms and an in vivo
model are presented. Results show that the tracking accuracy is suitable for
interventional tracking applications, with a mean 3D shape reconstruction
errors of 1.6 +/- 0.3 mm. This study demonstrates the promising potential of
MR-compatible UV-exposed OFDR optical fibers for non-ionizing device guidance
in intra-arterial procedures
