Catheter Electrode Pairing for 3D Impedance Tissue Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accurately identifying and targeting specific tissue types within the body during medical procedures, particularly in environments like the heart, is a difficult and invasive process due to varying tissue properties.
Innovation Solution
A catheter assembly with a plurality of electrodes arranged into constraint pairs, a processor, and a memory that records voltage data, maps impedance metrics, and generates an impedance model using machine learning to guide precise localization and characterization of tissues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional catheter-based systems are used to identify and target specific tissue types, then the procedure can be performed with existing equipment, but the process remains difficult and invasive with limited precision
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter assembly is divided into multiple limbs with electrodes arranged in constraint pairs, allowing independent measurement of impedance metrics from different directions. This segmentation enables precise 3D localization of tissues by combining data from multiple electrode pairs while maintaining a manageable device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system measures multiple impedance metrics (real part, imaginary part, magnitude, phase) across different electrode pairs and configurations. By varying the electrical parameters and measuring responses from multiple angles, the system achieves high-resolution tissue characterization without increasing physical device complexity.
2Measurement precision
If multiple electrodes are used to improve tissue characterization, then measurement accuracy improves, but the number of measurements and data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes constraint pairs among electrodes before measurement, defining specific measurement pathways in advance. This preliminary configuration allows the system to efficiently select which electrode pairs to activate based on the current catheter configuration, reducing the total number of measurements needed while maintaining comprehensive tissue characterization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system measures a subset of all possible electrode pair combinations by using constraint pairs that define the most informative measurements. Rather than exhaustively measuring all possible pairs, the system selects partial measurements that provide sufficient information for accurate tissue localization and characterization, reducing measurement time while maintaining precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If invasive procedures are used to target specific tissues, then direct access to target tissue is achieved, but damage to surrounding tissues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously measures impedance metrics from multiple electrode pairs and updates the impedance model in real-time. This feedback loop allows the system to precisely track the catheter's position and orientation relative to target tissues, enabling accurate targeting while monitoring and minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues through real-time adjustment of treatment parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces mechanical navigation and physical targeting with electrical impedance-based localization. By using electrical fields to probe and characterize tissues rather than relying solely on mechanical positioning, the system achieves high-precision targeting with minimal mechanical contact and reduced risk of damaging surrounding tissues during manipulation.
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
Enables precise localization and characterization of tissues by providing real-time feedback and optimizing electrode configurations for enhanced diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, minimizing damage to surrounding tissues.
Implementation Method 1
mapping, using the at least a processor, a plurality of impedance metrics as a function of the voltage data
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for the generation of an impedance model of a biological chamber, wherein the apparatus includes at least a catheter assembly including at least a tip formed by a plurality of limbs, wherein each limb of the plurality of limbs includes a plurality of electrodes arranged into one or more constraint pairs, at least a processor communicatively connected to the at least a catheter assembly and a memory communicatively connected to the at least a processor, wherein the memory contains instructions configuring the at least a processor to record voltage data from the plurality of electrodes within a biological chamber as a function of a plurality of relative configurations, map a plurality of impedance metrics as a function of the voltage data and generate an impedance model as a function of the map.