Noninvasive Cardiac Electrical Activity Mapping via Virtual Heart Model
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for mapping electrical activity on a model heart often require invasive implantable devices, which can be cumbersome and risky. There is a need for noninvasive systems and methods that can effectively monitor and map cardiac electrical activity without the use of implantable devices.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a plurality of external electrodes attached to the patient's torso to monitor electrical activity. This data is then processed by computing apparatus to create a model heart representative of the patient's heart, which is divided into segments. The monitored electrical activity is mapped onto these segments, allowing for the determination of electrical activity values for various anatomic regions of the heart.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If invasive implantable devices are used to map electrical activity, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and patient risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual model heart that copies and represents the patient's actual heart anatomy and electrical activity patterns. Instead of requiring invasive devices to directly measure cardiac electrical activity, the system uses external electrodes to capture body surface potentials and computationally reconstructs the internal cardiac electrical activity on a virtual model, achieving accurate mapping without implantable devices
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a computational model and algorithm as an intermediary between the external electrodes and the target cardiac tissue. The body surface potential maps serve as intermediaries that convey information about internal cardiac electrical activity without requiring direct contact with the heart, enabling noninvasive measurement while maintaining precision
2Measurement precision
If invasive implantable devices are used to map electrical activity, then measurement precision is improved, but patient safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual replica of the patient's heart that accurately copies electrical activity patterns. By measuring and mapping electrical potentials on the body surface and reconstructing them on a virtual model, the system achieves precise cardiac electrical activity mapping without introducing any foreign objects into the patient's body, thereby eliminating implantation risks
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the natural electrical signals that propagate through the body during normal cardiac function into beneficial diagnostic information. By using the body's own electrical conductivity and natural potential distributions as measurement signals, the system transforms ordinary physiological electrical activity into precise diagnostic data without requiring invasive intervention
3Object-affected harmful factors
If external electrodes are used for noninvasive monitoring, then patient safety is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the heart into multiple virtual elements or regions on the model heart, allowing detailed spatial mapping of electrical activity. By dividing the cardiac structure into discrete segments and assigning electrical potential values to each, the system achieves high-resolution precision mapping while using only noninvasive external electrodes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms two-dimensional body surface potential measurements into three-dimensional electrical activity maps of the heart. By using computational algorithms to project and reconstruct the electrical potentials from the external body surface onto the three-dimensional model heart, the system achieves precise spatial mapping that overcomes the inherent limitations of external electrode placement
Data Source
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AI summary
The exemplary systems and methods may be configured to monitor electrical activity from a patient using a plurality of external electrodes. The exemplary systems and methods may be further configured to provide a model heart representative of the patient's heart based on at least one of a plurality of patient characteristics. The model heart can include a plurality of segments. The exemplary systems and methods may be further configured to determine a value of electrical activity for each of a plurality of anatomic regions of the model heart based on the mapped electrical activity. Each of the plurality of anatomic regions can include a subset of the plurality of segments.