Cardiac Activation Wavefront Mapping with Animated 3D Path Traces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cardiac mapping technologies struggle to provide intuitive and efficient methods for deriving medical information from maps of cardiac electrical activity, which are often mentally demanding due to their reliance on static color overlays of local activation times.
Innovation Solution
A cardiac mapping system that utilizes a medical examination device to capture data over time at multiple sample locations, processing this data to determine activation wavefront propagation paths, and generates an animated three-dimensional visualization of these paths, allowing for easy identification of non-conductive areas and other propagation issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If static color overlays of local activation times are used to map cardiac electrical activity, then the mapping can be generated, but the derivation of medical information becomes mentally demanding and less intuitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms static color overlays into dynamic animated visualizations that show the temporal progression of activation wavefronts across the cardiac surface. The animation dynamically displays moving boundary lines that trace the advancing wavefront, allowing clinicians to intuitively observe propagation patterns, conduction velocities, and abnormal conduction paths without mental effort to interpret static snapshots.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the temporal dimension to traditional 2D color-mapped activation time displays by implementing animated visualizations that show activation progression over time. The moving boundary lines and animated wavefront representations convert static spatial maps into spatio-temporal visualizations, enabling intuitive perception of propagation dynamics in an additional time dimension.
2Ease of operation
If animated visualizations with moving boundary lines are implemented, then medical information becomes easier to derive, but the processing and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous activation wavefront into discrete moving boundary lines that can be independently tracked and rendered. By dividing the complex wavefront propagation into manageable line segments with defined start and end points, the system efficiently computes and animates propagation paths without requiring excessive computational resources to handle the entire wavefront as a single complex entity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses simplified graphical representations (moving boundary lines, colored segments) that copy and represent the essential features of the underlying electrical activation data without requiring full-fidelity simulation of every electrical parameter. This abstraction allows intuitive visualization while reducing computational burden by representing complex electrical phenomena with simpler graphical analogs.
3Loss of information
If multiple activation wavefront propagation path traces are calculated and displayed, then comprehensive propagation information is provided, but the visualization complexity and data processing increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple activation wavefront propagation path traces into a unified animated visualization framework where multiple moving boundary lines coexist and are rendered together on the cardiac surface model. This integration allows comprehensive display of multiple propagation paths, conduction velocities, and activation patterns without creating separate complex visualization systems for each trace, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining information completeness.
Data Source
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AI summary
In one embodiment, a cardiac mapping system includes a medical examination device to capture data over time at multiple sample locations over a surface of at least one chamber of a heart, a display screen, and processing circuitry to process the captured data to determine a description of a propagation of activation wavefronts associated with activation times over the surface of the at least one chamber of the heart, calculate activation wavefront propagation path traces wherein each path trace describes a point on one activation wavefront being propagated over the surface of the at least one chamber of the heart according to an advancement of the activation wavefront such that the path traces describe the propagation of different points according to corresponding activation wavefronts, prepare a visualization showing the path traces on a representation of the at least one chamber, and render the visualization to the display screen.