A method and apparatus for detecting position and orientation of catheter distal magnetic element end while moving in a patients heart is described. The apparatus comprising of four sensors, detecting the magnetic field of a generated by the catheter tip. Each sensor transmits the field magnitude and direction to a detection unit, which filters the signals and removes other field sources, such, as generated by CGCI coils and external medical hardware. The method allows the measurements of magnitude corresponding to the catheter tip distance from the sensor and the orientation of the field showing the magnetic tip orientation. Since the tips magnetic field is not symmetric, the position and orientation computation technique are not independent of each other. Hence, an iterative calculation is used to converge to a solution.
