Cardiac Signal Annotation Correction via Spatial Propagation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for analyzing intra-cardiac ECG signals during cardiac procedures often incorrectly assign annotations, leading to inaccurate local activation times and electroanatomical maps, which can result in flawed electrophysiological assessments.
Innovation Solution
A system that acquires electrical signals from myocardial tissue, allows users to correct invalid annotations for double-potential signals, and automatically propagates the correction to neighboring locations, ensuring accurate annotation selection and display on electroanatomical maps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic annotation derivation is performed on electrical signals from multiple locations, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to incorrect annotation assignment
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides visual feedback by displaying both the automatically derived annotation and the alternative annotation on the electroanatomical map. The operator can review these annotations and provide corrective input by selecting the valid annotation, creating a feedback loop that improves accuracy while maintaining automated processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-correction by automatically identifying and correcting annotations in neighboring locations based on the operator's correction at one location. This self-service mechanism propagates the correction throughout the dataset, improving overall accuracy without requiring manual review of every annotation.
2Measurement precision
If annotation correction is performed manually at each location, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges automated annotation derivation with manual correction capabilities into a hybrid workflow. The automated system handles initial annotation for all locations, while the operator intervenes only where corrections are needed, combining the speed of automation with the precision of manual review.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary automatic annotation derivation for all locations before operator review. This preliminary action establishes a baseline that is mostly correct, requiring minimal operator intervention and maximizing overall processing efficiency.
3Device complexity
If annotation correction is performed without propagation, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of information increases due to uncorrected errors in neighboring locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the correction process into two distinct operations: local annotation correction and regional propagation. The operator performs simple local correction at one location, while the system automatically handles the propagation to neighboring locations, dividing the complex task into manageable segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary between the operator's local correction and the overall annotation dataset. It mediates by automatically propagating the correction to neighboring locations based on spatial relationships, ensuring consistency across the electroanatomical map without requiring direct operator intervention at each location.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for electrophysiological assessment, including acquiring electrical signals from tissue at locations in a heart chamber and a computer processor automatically deriving from the electrical signals annotations indicative of times within a heart cycle at which a conduction wave traversed the locations. The method includes receiving an input from a processor user indicating, for a first location in the tissue where the electrical signals include a double-potential signal, a first annotation as a valid annotation. The processor automatically identifies second locations, within a predefined distance from the first location, where the electrical signals include double-potential signals, each having two respective annotations. The method further includes the processor automatically selecting, in response to the selection of the first annotation, one of the two respective annotations as the valid annotation at each of the second locations and displaying the valid annotations on an electroanatomical map of the heart.