Cardiac Activation Mapping via Surface Charge Density Transformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cardiac arrhythmia mapping techniques, both contact and non-contact, face limitations in precision, accuracy, and spatial resolution due to reliance on electric potentials, which are diffuse representations of cardiac activity, and are prone to artifacts and interference.
Innovation Solution
The method involves determining and transforming measured electric potentials into surface charge and dipole densities using algorithms, particularly the boundary element method, to create more precise and detailed maps of cardiac activation, allowing for improved localization of arrhythmias.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If contact mapping with electrode catheters is used to measure electric potentials on the cardiac surface, then localization precision of arrhythmia origins is improved, but the ability to obtain instant maps of entire cardiac activation is lost due to the time-consuming nature of moving electrodes around the heart
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical contact mapping system (electrode catheters physically moved around the heart) with a non-contact electrical field measurement system. Multiple electrodes are positioned in the blood pool to measure potentials simultaneously across the entire cardiac chamber, eliminating the need for mechanical electrode movement while maintaining measurement capability through electromagnetic field interactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional sequential measurement (moving electrode along a path) to three-dimensional simultaneous measurement (electrodes distributed throughout the blood pool volume). This dimensional expansion allows instant capture of electrical potentials across the entire cardiac chamber, enabling rapid generation of activation maps without temporal loss of spatial information.
2Productivity
If non-contact mapping with multi-electrode arrays is used to obtain instant maps of cardiac activation, then mapping speed is improved, but measurement precision and accuracy deteriorate due to reliance on farfield potentials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the measurement parameter from electric potentials (which are diffuse and prone to artifacts) to surface charge densities and dipole densities. This parameter transformation is achieved through mathematical algorithms that process the multi-electrode potential measurements, converting them into more localized and precise representations of cardiac electrical activity that maintain the advantages of non-contact mapping.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces mathematical algorithms as an intermediary between the raw potential measurements and the final activation map. These algorithms process the farfield potentials from multiple electrodes, transforming them into surface charge and dipole density distributions that provide enhanced localization precision while preserving the simultaneous measurement capability of non-contact mapping.
3Ease of operation
If electric potentials are used as the measurement parameter for cardiac mapping, then ease of measurement is improved, but precision and accuracy deteriorate due to the diffuse nature of potential representations and susceptibility to artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the measurement parameter from electric potentials to surface charge densities and dipole densities through mathematical transformation. This parameter change converts the diffuse potential field into a more localized representation that directly reflects the underlying cardiac electrical sources, thereby improving precision and accuracy while eliminating the artifacts inherent in potential-based mapping.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention discloses a method, a system, a computer program and a device for determining the surface charge and/or dipole densities on heart walls. Using the foregoing, a table of dipole densities ν(P′, t) and/or a table of surface charge densities ρ(P′, t) of a given heart chamber can be generated.