Bipolar Ablation GUI for Cardiac Electrode Grouping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical systems face limitations in efficiently selecting and ablating cardiac tissue using multi-electrode catheters during irreversible electroporation procedures, particularly with circular, basket, and balloon catheters, leading to uneven energy delivery and gaps in electrode selection.
Innovation Solution
A graphical user interface (GUI) is developed to group electrodes into sets, presenting selectable widgets that correspond to these groups, allowing for toggling of ablation selection status, ensuring balanced energy delivery by preventing gaps in electrode selection, and automatically selecting additional electrodes to cover uncovered regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If individual electrodes are selected manually one by one, then complete coverage can be achieved, but the operation time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The circular array of electrodes is segmented into multiple wedge-shaped groups, with each group containing a subset of adjacent electrodes. The GUI presents selectable widgets corresponding to these groups, allowing operators to efficiently select multiple electrodes simultaneously rather than individually, thus reducing selection time while maintaining complete coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple adjacent electrodes are merged into single selectable groups represented by widgets in the GUI. Each widget controls a group of electrodes, allowing the operator to select or deselect multiple electrodes with a single action, significantly reducing the time and complexity of electrode selection while ensuring complete coverage of the treatment area.
2Area of stationary object
If all electrodes are activated simultaneously, then treatment coverage is maximized, but energy delivery becomes uneven causing hot spots
Solution Approach 1:
Different groups of electrodes are activated sequentially in different time intervals rather than all simultaneously. The system divides the treatment into phases where specific wedge-shaped groups are activated based on their spatial location and tissue contact quality, ensuring uniform energy distribution across the treatment area while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode activation follows a periodic sequence where different groups of electrodes are activated in alternating time intervals. This periodic activation pattern ensures that energy is delivered uniformly across all treatment areas over time, preventing hot spots that would occur with simultaneous activation while maintaining complete treatment coverage.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the GUI allows electrode selection during active ablation, then operational flexibility is improved, but system reliability decreases due to potential errors
Solution Approach 1:
All electrode selections are completed and confirmed before the ablation process begins. The GUI presents widgets for selecting electrode groups in advance, and the system validates the complete selection set before initiating energy delivery, preventing errors that could occur from mid-procedure modifications while maintaining the flexibility to adjust selections during the setup phase.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The GUI enables efficient and balanced delivery of ablation energy to cardiac tissue, preventing gaps in electrode coverage and ensuring consistent treatment outcomes during irreversible electroporation procedures.
Implementation Method 1
Some medical systems use irreversible electroporation (IRE) to ablate cardiac tissue. IRE is a nonthermal ablation method based on the unrecoverable permeabilization of cell membranes caused by short pulses of high voltage delivered to the tissue.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include grouping a set of electrodes disposed at a distal end of a medical probe and configured to contact tissue in a body cavity into a plurality of groups of adjacent electrodes. A set of selectable widgets having a one-to-one correspondence with the groups are presented on a display, and in response to receiving an input indicating selection of a given widget, an ablation selection status of one or more of the electrodes in the group corresponding to the selected widget can be toggled.