Catheter Transducer Contact Sensing for Tissue Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intravascular or percutaneous medical procedures face challenges in maintaining sufficient transducer-to-tissue contact due to reduced visibility and complexity, leading to potential complications such as thermal coagulum formation and incorrect lesion placement, especially in treating conditions like atrial fibrillation.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a catheter device with transducers that sense contact with tissue, a data processing device to analyze contact signals, and a memory device storing procedures to improve contact, facilitating movements like rotation, translation, and bending to enhance transducer positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If intravascular or percutaneous techniques are used to treat atrial fibrillation, then surgery risk and recovery time are reduced, but the ability to maintain sufficient transducer-to-tissue contact deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors contact force between transducers and tissue using force-sensing capabilities, providing real-time feedback to the operator. This enables adjustment of catheter manipulation to maintain optimal contact, resolving the contradiction by making the operation easier through active monitoring and feedback control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct visual contact and manual manipulation with electronic sensing systems that measure contact force and provide data to a processing system. This substitution of mechanical observation with electronic measurement improves ease of operation while maintaining reliable tissue contact.
2Loss of information
If graphical models from navigation systems are used to visualize anatomical structures, then anatomical orientation is improved, but the ability to assess particular degree of tissue contact deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges graphical anatomical models from navigation systems with real-time force-sensing data from transducers. By combining visual orientation information with quantitative contact force measurements, the system simultaneously provides both anatomical context and precise tissue contact assessment, resolving the contradiction between visibility and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The display system is designed to serve multiple functions: showing anatomical orientation from graphical models and simultaneously displaying tissue contact force measurements. This multi-functionality allows the single system to provide both types of information needed to resolve the contradiction.
3Ease of operation
If transducers are manipulated to improve contact with one tissue area, then contact in that area is improved, but contact in other areas may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides real-time feedback on contact force for multiple transducers simultaneously, enabling the operator to see the effect of manipulation on all transducers. This allows optimization of contact in one area while monitoring and maintaining adequate contact in other areas, resolving the contradiction between improving specific contact and maintaining overall reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter device system may include a plurality of transducers positionable in a bodily cavity defined by at least a tissue wall, each transducer configured to sense a degree of contact between the transducer and the tissue wall. A data processing device system may be configured by a program to receive a plurality of degree-of-contact signals respectively from the plurality of transducers, the signals respectively indicating a degree of contact between the transducer and the tissue wall; identify a particular transducer as belonging to a first transducer set and as exhibiting an improper contact arrangement with the tissue wall as compared to a predetermined tissue-contact state, based at least on an interaction with data associated with at least one of the received degree-of-contact signals; and, consequently, provide an indication of a contact-improvement procedure to facilitate an improved contact arrangement between the particular transducer and the tissue wall.