Patient-Specific Atrial Simulation for Catheter Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for identifying optimal ablation targets for left atrial flutter (LAFL) are invasive, time-consuming, and inaccurate, leading to suboptimal success rates and increased complication risks due to reliance on electro-anatomical mapping and invasive clinical electrophysiology studies.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method using three-dimensional imaging data to generate patient-specific models of atrial tissue, estimate tissue fiber orientations, and conduct simulations to identify regions of slow conduction, critical isthmus, or minimum cut in a flow network to non-invasively determine ablation locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If electro-anatomical mapping and invasive clinical electrophysiology studies are used to locate reentrant circuits, then ablation targets can be identified, but the procedure becomes invasive, time-consuming, and inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a computational model that copies the anatomical structure and electrophysiological properties of the patient's atrium from imaging data. This virtual replica allows simulation of electrical wave propagation and identification of reentrant circuits without requiring invasive physical mapping procedures, thereby improving accuracy while reducing invasiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical invasive mapping system with a computational simulation system. Instead of physically inserting electrodes and manually mapping activation sequences, the system uses computer-based electrophysiological simulations to automatically identify reentrant circuits and critical isthmus regions, eliminating the need for invasive mechanical procedures
2Reliability
If traditional entrainment and activation mapping methods are used, then reentrant circuits can be located, but procedure time increases and complication rates increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary computational simulation of electrophysiological behavior before the actual catheter ablation procedure. By pre-identifying the reentrant circuit and critical isthmus regions through virtual mapping, the clinician can directly target the correct areas during the procedure, reducing procedure time and increasing success rates without the need for time-consuming intra-procedural mapping
Solution Approach 2:
The computational model creates a virtual copy of the patient's atrium that can be repeatedly simulated to test different ablation scenarios. This allows optimization of ablation targets and strategies before the actual procedure, improving reliability while reducing the time required during the clinical intervention
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for non-invasively identifying ablation locations in atrial tissue, can include: receiving three-dimensional imaging data representing atrial tissue of a left atrial flutter (LAFL) subject; generating a subject-specific model of the at least one of the atrial tissue from the three-dimensional imaging data; estimating tissue fiber orientations in the atrial tissue; assigning the estimated tissue fiber orientations to the subject-specific model of the atrial tissue; conducting simulations of LAFL using the subject-specific model to identify regions of slow conduction of a propagating wave within an atrial tissue region of the atrial tissue; a critical isthmus of a rotational wavefront within the atrial tissue region; or a region based on a minimum cut in a flow network; and identifying at least one ablation location in the atrial tissue region based on the identified regions of slow conduction, the critical isthmus, or the minimum cut.