Catheter Contact Lobe Feedback for Real-Time Tissue Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
In intraluminal catheter therapy, achieving a balance between high-detail visualization and a simple structure of visual elements is challenging, and ensuring adequate contact between the catheter distal end and tissue is crucial for accurate and effective procedures like ablation, while excessive force can cause tissue deformation.
Innovation Solution
A computer system provides real-time graphical feedback using contact lobes, which are curves overlaid on the catheter rendering to indicate contact level based on electrical impedance, allowing physicians to adjust catheter positioning and force application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If detailed visual feedback elements are added to show catheter-tissue contact information, then measurement precision and information quality improve, but device complexity and visual element complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color changes in contact lobes to encode multiple dimensions of contact information. Different colors represent different contact states (e.g., green for good contact, red for poor contact), allowing comprehensive feedback without adding complex visual structures. This resolves the contradiction by providing rich measurement precision through color encoding rather than structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds visual information along the color dimension rather than increasing structural complexity. By using color as an additional dimension to represent contact quality, the system provides comprehensive feedback while maintaining simple visual element structures. This dimensional approach allows multiple parameters to be conveyed through a single visual element.
2Manufacturing precision
If real-time impedance monitoring and visual feedback systems are implemented, then ablation accuracy and tissue engagement precision improve, but device complexity and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements real-time feedback by continuously monitoring impedance changes and immediately updating the visual display with contact lobe modifications. This closed-loop feedback system ensures high ablation accuracy by providing continuous guidance on catheter-tissue contact status, allowing physicians to make real-time adjustments without increasing physical system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical contact sensing mechanisms with electrical impedance measurements. Instead of using mechanical sensors to detect contact, the system uses impedance changes caused by tissue contact, which are then visualized through contact lobes. This substitution achieves high precision while maintaining system simplicity.
3Measurement precision
If contact lobes are positioned close to the catheter rendering for detailed feedback, then measurement precision improves, but distinguishability between multiple contact lobes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each contact lobe have distinct visual characteristics based on its specific contact state. Each lobe's color, size, and intensity are locally optimized to represent its corresponding electrode's contact condition, ensuring both precision and distinguishability. This allows multiple lobes to be positioned close together while remaining individually identifiable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color changes to differentiate between multiple contact lobes positioned in close proximity. Each lobe's color reflects its specific contact quality, enabling physicians to distinguish between multiple contact points even when they are spatially close. This color encoding resolves the contradiction by providing both precision and distinguishability through visual differentiation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances precision and effectiveness of intraluminal catheter therapy by enabling real-time adjustments for optimal tissue engagement, preventing excessive force and ensuring adequate contact.
Implementation Method 1
real-time proximity based on electrical impedance sensed by electrodes of a catheter
Data Source
AI summary
The presently disclosed subject matter includes a computer system, method, and graphical user interface that provide graphical feedback indicating real-time contact level between a tissue wall of a luminal organ and an ablation catheter, based on electrical impedance sensed by electrodes of a catheter. As the impedance is related to proximity of the electrodes to the tissue walls, the system utilizes impedance measurements to visually alter the appearance of a graphical representation of the electrodes according to changes in the sensed impedance. The graphical feedback enables the physician to make real-time adjustments to the catheter's positioning and applied force, and thereby enhance the precision and effectiveness of intraluminal catheter therapy. The graphical feedback comprises a plurality of contact lobes centered on the electrodes and have sizes which increase with the contact level.