Tissue Proximity Indication Based on a Subset of Electrodes

Abstract

To provide systems, apparatuses and methods for improving medical procedures and mapping.SOLUTION: Methods, apparatus and systems for medical procedures are disclosed herein and include receiving, at a location agnostic system and at a first time, a first plurality of electronic signals from a respective plurality of electrodes of a catheter. A subset of electronic signals of the first plurality of electronic signals may be received at a location aware system. The location aware system may determine a location of the catheter within an intra-body organ. The location aware system may determine that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location, based on the subset of electronic signals and at least one tissue property at the location. A location agnostic system contact profile for the catheter may be generated based on determining, by the location aware system, that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to systems, devices and methods for improving medical procedures and mapping. [Background technology]

[0002] Medical conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias (e.g., atrial fibrillation (AF)) are often diagnosed and treated via intracorporeal procedures. For example, electrical pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) from the left atrial (LA) body is performed using ablation to treat AF. PVI, and many other minimally invasive catheterization procedures, cause damage to the target organ tissue to prevent electrical activity through the organ tissue.

[0003] A body organ includes tissue that may vary in different parts of the body organ and may also vary in different regions of a chamber of the body organ, such as different chambers of the heart. Thus, tissue proximity determined based on electronic signals provided by one or more electrodes may be based on specific tissue characteristics at a given location of the body organ, such as different regions of the heart. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] Methods, devices, and systems for medical procedures are disclosed herein that include receiving a first plurality of electronic signals each from a corresponding plurality of electrodes of a catheter at a first time with a position independent system. A subset of the electronic signals of the first plurality of electronic signals may be received with a position aware system. The position aware system may determine a position of the catheter within the body organ. The position aware system may determine that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the position based on the subset of electronic signals and at least one tissue characteristic at the position. A position independent system contact profile of the catheter may be generated based on determining by the position aware system that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the position.

[0005] Methods, devices, and systems for medical procedures are disclosed herein, including a system for determining a contact profile, the system including a catheter including a plurality of electrodes configured to sense a first plurality of electronic signals. A position-aware system may be configured to receive a subset of the electronic signals from the first plurality of electronic signals, determine a position of the catheter within the body organ, and determine that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the position based on the subset of electronic signals and at least one tissue characteristic at the position. A position-independent system may be configured to receive each of the first plurality of electronic signals from a corresponding plurality of electrodes of the catheter, and generate a position-independent system contact profile of the catheter based on a determination by the position-aware system at a first time that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the position. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary system of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flow chart for generating a location independent system profile in accordance with the present invention. [Diagram 3]1 is a diagram of a location aware system and a location independent system in accordance with the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating generating a location independent system profile in accordance with the present invention. [Figure 5A] 3 shows a graph corresponding to a location aware system according to the present invention; [Figure 5B] 4 shows a graph corresponding to a position independent system according to the invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] Internal body organs, such as the heart, are often mapped, examined, and / or operated on using catheter-based medical procedures. During catheter-based medical procedures, a catheter having multiple electrodes may be inserted into the internal body organ. The multiple electrodes of the catheter may be used to map the surface of the internal body organ based on proximity sensing, such that, for example, the surface at a given location may be mapped if one or more electrodes are determined to be in proximity to or in contact with the surface. The number of electrodes on the catheter may determine the resolution of the data captured by the catheter. In addition, the number of electrodes may determine the flexibility in performing electrode-based procedures, such as ablation procedures. A larger number of electrodes may provide higher resolution, such that, for example, a larger data set may be collected based on more electrodes, or a more precise ablation procedure may be performed based on more electrodes.

[0008] Utilizing more than one electrode may depend on the system's ability to determine whether that number of electrodes are in proximity (or in contact with) tissue of the body organ. For example, to determine whether an electrode of a catheter is in contact with tissue of a heart chamber, the system may need to determine whether the electrode of the catheter is in contact with tissue of the heart chamber. The proximity determination may be made by determining that the impedance sensed at the location of the tissue exceeds an impedance threshold for that particular location.

[0009] The impedance threshold of a first region (e.g., a first region of the heart) may be different from the impedance threshold of a second region (e.g., a second region of the heart). The impedance threshold may vary between different regions of the body organ based on characteristics of the tissue corresponding to the different regions of the body organ. For example, characteristics such as tissue thickness, tissue density, tissue type, etc. may affect the impedance threshold for determining whether an electrode or catheter is proximate (e.g., in contact with) tissue. Thus, an electrode-measured impedance value X (e.g., change in impedance or percentage change in impedance) at a first location may correspond to an electrode proximate (e.g., in contact with) a tissue surface at the first location, while the same electrode-measured impedance value X at a second location may not correspond to an electrode proximate (e.g., in contact with) a tissue surface at the second location.

[0010] Thus, the proximity determination may be based on knowledge of the location of the catheter as well as calculation of characteristics of the internal organ (e.g., impedance) detected by the electrodes. However, a location aware system may be limited in the number of electrode signals it can analyze, thereby limiting the resolution that may be available for a catheter or group of catheters with an electrode count that exceeds the limitations of the location aware system. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention enable a location independent system to determine proximity using a location independent system contact profile (i.e., a tissue contact profile for determining proximity to tissue) based on proximity determination by a location aware system providing a subset of signals from a subset of electrodes.

[0011] Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may enable the use of resource intensive location-aware systems that may be limited to a certain number of electrode inputs (e.g., 22 inputs as disclosed in the examples herein) in combination with high-resolution location-independent systems capable of analyzing many more inputs (e.g., 120 inputs as disclosed in the examples herein). Thus, one advantage of implementing exemplary embodiments disclosed herein would be to use a cost-effective high-resolution location-independent system to obtain high-resolution data in combination with an existing low-resolution but location-aware system to correlate the high-resolution data with location-based attributes (e.g., location-based tissue impedance thresholds).

[0012] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary system 20 in which one or more exemplary features of the present invention may be implemented. The system 20 may include components configured to injure a tissue region of an internal organ, such as a catheter 40. The catheter 40 may be further configured to acquire biometric data. Although the catheter 40 is shown to be a single point catheter having multiple electrodes 47A-N, it will be understood that any shape of catheter including one or more elements (e.g., electrodes) may be used to practice the embodiments disclosed herein. The system 20 includes a probe 21 having a shaft that may be navigated by a physician 30 into a body part, such as a heart 26, of a patient 28 lying on a bed 29. According to an exemplary embodiment, multiple probes may be provided, and although a single probe 21 is described herein for simplicity, it will be understood that the probe 21 may represent multiple probes. As shown in FIG. 1, the physician 30 may insert the shaft 22 through the sheath 23 while manipulating the distal end of the shaft 22 using a manipulator 32 near the proximal end of the catheter 40 and / or deflection from the sheath 23. As shown in inset 25, a catheter 40 may be attached to the distal end of shaft 22. Catheter 40 may be inserted through sheath 23 in a collapsed state and then expanded within heart 26. Catheter 40, as described above, may include at least one electrode, or multiple electrodes 47A-N, as further disclosed herein.

[0013] According to an exemplary embodiment, catheter 40 may be configured to map and / or ablate tissue regions in a ventricle of heart 26. Inset 45 shows an enlarged view of catheter 40 inside a ventricle of heart 26. As shown, catheter 40 may include at least one electrode (or multiple electrodes 47A-N) coupled to the body of catheter 40. According to other exemplary embodiments, multiple elements may be connected via splines that form the shape of catheter 40. One or more other elements (not shown) may be provided and may be any element configured to perform ablation or acquire biometric data, and may be an electrode, a transducer, or one or more other elements.

[0014] According to exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, electrodes such as electrodes 47-N may be configured to deliver energy to a tissue region of a body organ, such as heart 26. The energy may be thermal energy and may cause damage to the tissue region beginning at the surface of the tissue region and extending through the thickness of the tissue region.

[0015] According to exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the biological data may include one or more of LAT, electrical activity, topology, bipolar mapping, dominant frequency, impedance, etc. The local activation time may be a time point of a threshold activity corresponding to the local activation, calculated based on a normalized initial starting point. The electrical activity may be any applicable electrical signal that may be measured based on one or more thresholds, and may be sensed and / or enhanced based on a signal-to-noise ratio and / or other filters. The topology may correspond to a physical structure of the body part or a portion of the body part, and may correspond to changes in the physical structure for different parts of the body part or for different body parts. The dominant frequency may be a frequency or range of frequencies pervading a portion of the body part, and may be different in different parts of the same body part. For example, the dominant frequency of the pulmonary veins of the heart may be different from the dominant frequency of the right atrium of the same heart. The impedance may be a resistance measurement in a given area of ​​the body part.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1 , the probe 21 and catheter 40 may be connected to a console 24. The console 24 may include a processor 41, such as a general purpose computer with suitable front end and interface circuitry 38 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the catheter, as well as for controlling other components of the system 20. In some exemplary embodiments, the processor 41 may be further configured to receive biometric data, such as electrical activity, and determine whether a given tissue region conducts electricity. According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor may be external to the console 24, such as located in the catheter, in an external device, in a mobile device, in a cloud-based device, or may be a stand-alone processor.

[0017] As mentioned above, the processor 41 may include a general-purpose computer, which may be programmed in software to perform the functions described herein. The software may be downloaded in electronic form to the general-purpose computer, for example, over a network, or alternatively or additionally provided and / or stored on a non-transitory tangible medium, such as a magnetic, optical, or electronic memory. The exemplary configuration shown in FIG. 1 may be modified to implement the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein. The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be similarly applied using other system components and configurations. Additionally, the system 20 may include additional components, such as elements for sensing electrical activity, wired or wireless connectors, processing and display devices, etc.

[0018] According to one embodiment, a display connected to a processor (e.g., processor 41) may be located at a remote location, such as a separate hospital or separate healthcare provider network. Additionally, system 20 may be part of a surgical system configured to obtain anatomical and electrical measurements of a patient's organs, such as the heart, and to perform cardiac ablation procedures. An example of such a surgical system is the Carto® system sold by Biosense Webster.

[0019] The system 20 may further and optionally obtain biometric data, such as anatomical measurements of the patient's heart, using ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or other medical imaging techniques known in the art. The system 20 may obtain electrical measurements using catheters, electrocardiograms (EKG), or other sensors that measure electrical properties of the heart. The biometric data, including anatomical and electrical measurements, may then be stored in a memory 42 of the mapping system 20, as shown in FIG. 1. The biometric data may be transmitted from the memory 42 to the processor 41. Alternatively, or additionally, the biometric data may be transmitted using a network 62 to a server 60, which may be local or remote.

[0020] The network 62 may be any network or system commonly known in the art, such as an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a direct or series of connections, a cellular telephone network, or any other network or medium capable of facilitating communication between the mapping system 20 and the server 60. The network 62 may be wired, wireless, or a combination thereof. Wired connections may be implemented using Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), RJ-11, or any other wired connection commonly known in the art. Wireless connections may be implemented using Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and Bluetooth, infrared, cellular networks, satellite, or any other wireless connection method commonly known in the art. Additionally, several networks may operate alone or in communication with each other to facilitate communication within the network 62.

[0021] In some cases, server 62 may be implemented as a physical server. In other cases, server 62 may be implemented as a virtual server, such as a public cloud computing provider (e.g., Amazon Web Services (AWS)).

[0022] The control console 24 may be connected by a cable 39 to the body surface electrodes 43, which may include adhesive skin patches that are affixed to the patient 30. A processor in conjunction with the current tracking module may determine the position coordinates of the catheter 40 within the patient's body part (e.g., the heart 26). The position coordinates may be based on impedance or electromagnetic fields measured between the body surface electrodes 43 and the electrodes 48 or other electromagnetic components of the catheter 40. Additionally or alternatively, location pads may be placed on the surface of the bed 29 or may be separate from the bed 29.

[0023] Processor 41 may include real-time noise reduction circuitry, typically configured as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), followed by an analog-to-digital (A / D) ECG (electrocardiograph) or EMG (electromyogram) signal conversion integrated circuit. Processor 41 may communicate signals from the A / D ECG or EMG circuitry to another processor and / or may be programmed to perform one or more functions disclosed herein.

[0024] The control console 24 may further include an input / output (I / O) communication interface that allows the control console to communicate signals to and / or from the electrodes 47A-N.

[0025] During a procedure, the processor 41 facilitates the presentation of the body part rendering 35 to the physician 30 on the display 27 and may store data representing the body part rendering 35 in the memory 42. The memory 42 may comprise any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as a random access memory or a hard disk drive. In some exemplary embodiments, the medical professional 30 may be able to manipulate the body part rendering 35 using one or more input devices, such as a touchpad, a mouse, a keyboard, a gesture recognizer, etc. For example, the input devices may be used to change the position of the catheter 40 so that the rendering 35 is updated. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the display 27 may include a touch screen, which may be configured to receive input from the medical professional 30 in addition to presenting the body part rendering 35.

[0026] As shown in process flow chart 200 of FIG. 2, in step 210, a plurality of electronic signals may be received from a corresponding plurality of electrodes. The plurality of electrodes may be attached to or may be part of one or more catheters. The one or more catheters may be inserted into the body organ through an incision or through a natural orifice and directed toward the body organ. The plurality of electrodes may transmit electronic signals (e.g., voltage signals) to a processor (e.g., processor 41 of FIG. 1) via a wired or wireless connection. The processor may calculate an impedance value based on the electronic signals provided by the plurality of electrodes, and the impedance value may be applied to determine whether the catheter, or more specifically one or more of the plurality of electrodes, is in proximity to (e.g., in contact with) tissue of the body organ, as further disclosed herein.

[0027] The electronic signals sensed by the corresponding electrodes may be provided to / received by a position independent system. The position independent system may be any applicable system that is not aware of the location of the electrodes in the body organ. The position independent system may include a processor (e.g., processor 40 of FIG. 1), memory, and other components configured to at least determine proximity according to the techniques disclosed herein. As an example, as shown in FIG. 3, one or more catheters 310 inserted into the body organ 305 that provides the corresponding electronic signals may have one hundred and twenty (120) electrodes 320. The electronic signals 322 sensed by the 120 electrodes 320 may be provided to the position independent system 330 such that the position independent system 330 is configured to receive and process all 120 electronic signals 322 corresponding to the 120 electrodes.

[0028] In step 220 of process 200 of Figure 2, a subset of the plurality of electronic signals sensed by the plurality of electrodes may be split and provided to a position aware system. Thus, the plurality of electronic signals may be provided to a position independent system, as described in step 210, and a subset of the plurality of electronic signals may be provided to both the position independent system (i.e., as part of the plurality of electronic signals, as described in step 210) and the position aware system (i.e., as described in this step 220). Continuing with the example provided herein of one hundred and twenty electronic signals 322 provided to a position independent system 330, as shown in Figure 3, a subset of twenty-two (22) electronic signals 325 may be split to also be provided to a position aware system 340.

[0029] As described herein, the position independent system 330 may not receive or otherwise generate position information corresponding to one or more catheters within a body organ. Thus, the position independent system 330 may not be able to determine whether a catheter, or more specifically one or more electrodes, is proximate (e.g., in contact with) tissue of the body organ. Notably, the position independent system 330 may not be able to determine whether a catheter is proximate to such tissue without the location of the catheter, because such a proximity determination may require position information to determine an accurate impedance threshold, such that proximity may be determined based on whether a received electronic signal satisfies a location-specific impedance threshold for the tissue at that location.

[0030] In step 230 of process 200 of FIG. 2, the location of the catheter, and specifically the one or more electrodes, may be determined by a location awareness system. The location of the catheter may be determined based on one or more of electromagnetic transmissions, body surface electrodes, location pads, a mapping system, and the like. For example, the location awareness system may be configured to receive electromagnetic signals between the catheter and a location pad and may determine the location of the catheter based on the electromagnetic signals. As another example, the location awareness system may compare the electromagnetic signals from the catheter to the body surface electrode signals to determine the location of the catheter relative to the body surface electrodes. Continuing with the example, as shown in FIG. 3, a location awareness system 340 may determine the location of one or more catheters 310.

[0031] In step 240 of process 200 of FIG. 2, a determination that the catheter, and specifically the one or more electrodes, are proximate (e.g., in contact with) tissue of the body organ can be made by a location awareness system. The determination that the catheter is proximate to tissue of the body organ can be based on the location of the catheter and impedance determined based on electrical signals sensed by the one or more electrodes. In particular, an impedance threshold can be determined based on the location of the catheter, as provided by the location awareness system. The impedance threshold can be specific to the tissue at that location of the catheter, such that a proximity determination can be made based on the location specific impedance threshold. The location awareness system can determine that the catheter is proximate to (e.g., in contact with) tissue of the body organ based on applicable location specific impedance thresholds and impedance values ​​sensed by one or more of the electrodes, such that an impedance value exceeding a location specific impedance threshold indicates proximity (e.g., in contact).

[0032] 2, at step 250, a location independent system profile of the catheter may be generated based on the proximity determination by the location aware system at step 240. Notably, when the location aware system determines that the catheter is proximate to (e.g., in contact with) tissue, at step 240, the location independent system may further determine impedance values ​​based on electrical signals sensed by one or more electrodes. The location independent system may generate a location independent system profile based on such impedance values ​​such that the profile includes impedance values ​​determined by the location independent system while the location aware system was generating the proximity determination.

[0033] 4 shows an exemplary diagram for generating a position independent system profile. As shown in FIG. 4, a catheter 405 comprising a plurality of electrodes 405a-405n may be inserted into a heart chamber 400. Electronic signals 422 from the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n may be provided to a position independent system 410. Additionally, a subset 425 of the electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n may be provided to a position aware system 420.

[0034] The location awareness system 420 may be capable of recognizing a location of the catheter 405 and may apply an impedance threshold to determine proximity (e.g., contact) with tissue of the heart chamber 400 based on the location of the catheter 405. The location awareness system 420 may determine that a subset of the electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n are in contact with a surface of tissue of the heart chamber 400 at a first time based on a change in impedance value such that the change in impedance value exceeds a threshold impedance. Upon determining contact with the internal organ tissue, the location awareness system 420 may provide a contact indication 450 to the location independent system 430. According to one implementation, a percentage of the change in impedance may be applied when determining whether the impedance value exceeds the threshold impedance. Upon detecting contact, the location independent system 410 may record the impedance value sensed by the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n at a first time. Notably, the impedance value determined by the location awareness system 420 may differ from the impedance value determined by the location independent system 410 at the first time. However, the impedance values ​​determined by the position independent system 410 for the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n based on contact determination by the position awareness system 420 may be stored as a position independent system profile 411 such that a subsequent determination of an impedance value that satisfies the position independent system profile is indicated as contact with tissue at that location.

[0035] At a second time, after the first time, the position independent system 410 may apply the position independent system profile to determine whether the plurality of electrodes 405a-405n are in contact with a surface of tissue of the heart chamber 400. For example, the position independent system profile may be applied to the set of electrical signals received by the position independent system 410 at the second time. Electrodes that sense electronic signals corresponding to impedance values ​​greater than an impedance value of the position independent system profile may be determined to be in contact with tissue of the heart organ 400. Electronic signals corresponding to impedance values ​​greater than an impedance value of the position independent system profile may be considered to satisfy the position independent system profile, such that they exceed an impedance threshold provided in the position independent system profile.

[0036] After determining the position independent system profile, the position awareness system 420 may not be required to determine contact with the tissue surface of the heart chamber 400 at that location. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the position awareness system 420 may be turned off a second time such that electrical signals from the one or more electrodes are provided only to the position awareness system 410. Based on the process 200 of FIG. 2, many position independent system profiles may be generated and stored in memory for many different locations.

[0037] Figure 5B shows a graph 510 corresponding to voltages detected by the position independent system 410 of Figure 4, and Figure 5A shows a graph 520 corresponding to voltages detected by the position aware system 420 of Figure 4. Although graphs 510 and 520 show voltages corresponding to a single electrical signal from a single electrode, it will be understood that multiple electronic signals may be used to determine a position independent system profile.

[0038] 5A and 5B, the voltage difference determined by the position awareness system 420 shown in graph 520 may be 7 volts when the position awareness system 420 determines, based on a position specific impedance threshold, that the corresponding electrode is in contact with a tissue surface of the cardiac organ 400 of FIG 4. At the same time, the corresponding voltage difference determined by the position independent system 410 may be 5 volts. Thus, a position independent system profile may be determined such that a 5 volt difference determined by the position independent system at that location may correspond to contact with tissue of the cardiac organ 400 as determined by the position independent system.

[0039] In particular, the position-aware system (e.g., 420 of FIG. 4) may determine that a subset of the electrodes is in proximity (e.g., in contact) with tissue of the internal organ at a particular location. The determination may be made based on the subset of electrodes sensing an impedance value (e.g., current and voltage) that exceeds an impedance threshold for that particular location as determined by the position-aware system. The position-independent system (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4) may also sense an impedance value with the entire set of electrodes (i.e., more electrode-based electrical signals than are provided to the position-aware system). Based on the proximity determined by the position-aware system, the position-independent system may generate a position-independent contact profile such that an impedance value determined by the position-independent system when the position-aware system indicates proximity is recorded as an impedance value indicative of contact for the position-independent system. As described herein, such one or more impedance values ​​of the position-independent contact profile may differ from those sensed by the position-aware system in the position-independent system even when the same signal is provided to two different systems (e.g., FIG. 4) (e.g., FIGS. 5A and 5B). The difference may be due to any applicable reason, such as circuitry, electrical propagation, internal components, transduction mechanisms, etc. Thus, a position independent contact profile having at least one impedance threshold may be generated for a position independent system and used to determine the proximity of one or more catheters by the position independent system at a particular location.

[0040] The proximity (e.g., contact) indicated by the position independent system based on the position independent system profile may be used to map a surface of all or a portion of an internal organ, such as a heart chamber. Alternatively, or additionally, the proximity indicated by the position independent system may be used to initiate ablation by an ablation electrode during a medical procedure.

[0041] Any of the functions and methods described herein may be implemented in a general purpose computer, processor, or processor core. Suitable processors include, by way of example, general purpose processors, special purpose processors, conventional processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, controllers, microcontrollers, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and / or state machines. Such processors may be manufactured by configuring a manufacturing process with the results of processed hardware description language (HDL) instructions and other intermediate data such as netlists (such instructions may be stored in a computer readable medium). The result of such processing may be a mask work that is then used in a semiconductor manufacturing process to manufacture a processor embodying the features of the present disclosure.

[0042] Any of the functions and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and executed by a general-purpose computer or processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs).

[0043] It should be understood that many variations are possible based on the disclosure herein, and although features and elements have been described above in specific combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements, or in various combinations with other features and elements, with or without the other features and elements.

[0044] [Embodiment] (1) A method for determining a tissue contact profile, the method comprising: receiving, at a first time with the position independent system, a first plurality of electronic signals respectively from a corresponding plurality of electrodes of the catheter; receiving a subset of the first plurality of electronic signals at a location awareness system; determining a position of the catheter within the body organ with the position awareness system; determining, by the location awareness system, that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the location based on the subset of the electronic signals and at least one tissue characteristic at the location; generating a position independent system contact profile of the catheter based on the position awareness system determining that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location; A method comprising: (2) receiving a second plurality of electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes at a second time and providing the second plurality of electronic signals to the position independent system; determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the position independent system contact profile; determining that the catheter is in contact with the location based on determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the location independent system contact profile; 2. The method of embodiment 1, further comprising: (3) The method of embodiment 2, wherein determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the position-independent system contact profile includes determining that an impedance value corresponding to the second plurality of electronic signals is greater than an impedance value of the position-independent system contact profile. (4) The method of embodiment 2, further comprising disconnecting from the location awareness system before the second time. (5) determining that the subset of the plurality of electrodes is in contact with the tissue at the location includes: determining an impedance value based on the subset of the electronic signals; determining that the impedance value is greater than a threshold impedance value for the location; 2. The method of embodiment 1, comprising:

[0045] (6) The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue characteristic is an impedance threshold at the location. (7) The method of claim 6, wherein the impedance threshold for the location is based on a change in impedance. (8) The method of claim 6, wherein the impedance threshold for the location is based on a percentage of change in impedance. (9) The method of embodiment 1, wherein the position independent system contact profile includes one or more impedance thresholds of electrodes of the position independent system. (10) The method of embodiment 9, wherein the one or more impedance thresholds are determined based on the location awareness system determining that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location.

[0046] (11) A system for determining a tissue contact profile, the system comprising: a catheter comprising a plurality of electrodes configured to sense a first plurality of electronic signals; 1. A location awareness system, comprising: receiving a subset of electronic signals from the first plurality of electronic signals; determining a position of the catheter within a body organ; determining that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the location based on the subset of electronic signals and at least one tissue characteristic at the location; A location recognition system configured as follows: 1. A location independent system comprising: receiving the first plurality of electronic signals respectively from corresponding electrodes of the catheter; generating a position independent system contact profile of the catheter based on a determination by the position aware system that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the position at a first time; a location independent system configured to: A system comprising: (12) The position independent system comprises: receiving a second plurality of electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes at a second time; determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the position independent system contact profile; determining that the catheter is in contact with the location based on determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfy the location independent system contact profile. 12. The system of claim 11, further configured as follows: (13) The system of embodiment 12, wherein determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the position-independent system contact profile includes determining that an impedance value corresponding to the second plurality of electronic signals is greater than an impedance value of the position-independent system contact profile. (14) The location recognition system comprises: determining an impedance value based on the subset of the electronic signals; Determining that the impedance value is greater than a threshold impedance value for the location. 12. The system of claim 11, further configured as follows: (15) The system of embodiment 11, wherein the tissue characteristic is an impedance threshold at the location.

[0047] (16) The system of claim 15, wherein the impedance threshold for the location is based on a change in impedance. (17) The system of claim 15, wherein the impedance threshold for the location is based on a percentage of change in impedance. (18) The system of embodiment 11, wherein the position-independent system contact profile includes one or more impedance thresholds of electrodes of the position-independent system. (19) The system of embodiment 18, wherein the one or more impedance thresholds are determined based on the location awareness system determining that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location.

Claims

1. 16. A method of determining a tissue contact profile, the method comprising: receiving, at a first time with the position independent system, a first plurality of electronic signals respectively from a corresponding plurality of electrodes of the catheter; receiving a subset of the first plurality of electronic signals at a location aware system; determining, by the processor, a position of the catheter within the internal organ with the position recognition system; determining, by the processor, an impedance value based on the subset of the electronic signals with the location awareness system; determining, by the processor, that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the location based on determining, by the location awareness system, that the impedance value determined based on the subset of the electronic signals is greater than an impedance threshold for the location; generating the tissue contact profile of the catheter based on the processor determining by the location awareness system that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location; Including, The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue contact profile comprises an impedance value determined by the position independent system based on the first plurality of electronic signals when the position awareness system determines that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location.

2. receiving a second plurality of electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes at a second time and providing the second plurality of electronic signals to the position independent system; determining, by the processor, that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the tissue contact profile when an impedance value determined by the position independent system based on the second plurality of electronic signals is greater than the impedance value of the tissue contact profile; determining, based on the processor determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfy the tissue contact profile, that the catheter is in contact with the location; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising disconnecting from the location aware system before the second time.

4. A method of operating a processor as described in claim 1, wherein determining that the impedance value is greater than the impedance threshold at the location is based on a change in the impedance value that exceeds the impedance threshold.

5. 1. A system for determining a tissue contact profile, the system comprising: a catheter comprising a plurality of electrodes configured to sense a first plurality of electronic signals; 1. A location awareness system, comprising: receiving a subset of electronic signals from the first plurality of electronic signals; determining a position of the catheter within a body organ; determining an impedance value based on the subset of the electronic signals; determining that the catheter is in contact with tissue at the location based on determining that the impedance value determined based on the subset of the electronic signals is greater than an impedance threshold for the location. A location recognition system configured as follows:

1. A location independent system comprising: receiving the first plurality of electronic signals respectively from corresponding electrodes of the catheter; generating the tissue contact profile of the catheter based on a determination by the location awareness system at a first time that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location; a location independent system configured to: Equipped with the tissue contact profile comprises an impedance value determined by the position independent system based on the first plurality of electronic signals when the position awareness system determines that the catheter is in contact with the tissue at the location.

6. The position independent system comprises: receiving a second plurality of electronic signals from the plurality of electrodes at a second time; determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfies the tissue contact profile when an impedance value determined based on the second plurality of electronic signals is greater than the impedance value of the tissue contact profile; determining that the catheter is in contact with the location based on determining that the second plurality of electronic signals satisfy the tissue contact profile. The system of claim 5 further configured to:

7. The system of claim 5, wherein determining that the impedance value is greater than the impedance threshold at the location is based on a change in the impedance value that exceeds the impedance threshold.

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