Double Bipolar Catheter for Atrial Fibrillation Blocked Region Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for evaluating electrical propagation in the heart, particularly during atrial fibrillation, face challenges due to the complexity and variability of atrial fibrillation signals, making it difficult to accurately identify blocked regions and activation wave paths in the heart.
Innovation Solution
The method involves simultaneously acquiring unipolar electropotential signals using a catheter with multiple electrodes, identifying significant features such as large numerical slopes, and assigning quality factors to annotations. This analysis helps in identifying blocked regions and creating a dynamic 3D map of the heart to visualize the progression of activation waves and blocked areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional unipolar or bipolar leads are used to measure electrical activity, then the measurement setup is simple, but the ability to accurately identify activation waves and blocked regions during atrial fibrillation is insufficient due to signal complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter electrode is divided into multiple independent sensing elements (first bipolar pair and second bipolar pair) that can independently measure electrical signals from different spatial orientations. This segmentation allows the system to capture complex atrial fibrillation signals from multiple directions simultaneously, improving the accuracy of identifying activation waves and blocked regions while managing signal complexity through modular measurement units.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional single-plane bipolar measurement to a three-dimensional measurement configuration by arranging bipolar pairs in different spatial orientations (e.g., longitudinal and transverse directions). This dimensional expansion enables the system to capture electrical propagation in multiple dimensions, significantly improving the ability to identify blocked regions and activation wave paths during atrial fibrillation.
2Reliability
If multiple electrodes are used to capture comprehensive electrical activity, then the ability to identify blocked regions improves, but the complexity of signal processing and analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated signal analysis that processes electrical signals from multiple bipolar pairs and provides feedback on detected activation waves and blocked regions. The processing unit analyzes the complex multi-dimensional signals using algorithms that identify patterns characteristic of atrial fibrillation, automatically determining activation times and locating blocked regions without requiring manual interpretation of complex waveforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediate processing layer that translates complex multi-electrode signals into clinically useful information. The processing unit acts as an intermediary between the raw electrical signals from multiple bipolar pairs and the clinical interpretation, automatically computing activation times, identifying blocked regions, and presenting results in a simplified format that reduces the burden on clinicians while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Catheterization of the heart is carried out by inserting a probe having electrodes into a heart of a living subject, recording a bipolar electrogram and a unipolar electrogram from one of the electrodes at a location in the heart, and defining a window of interest wherein a rate of change in a potential of the bipolar electrogram exceeds a predetermined value. An annotation is established in the unipolar electrogram, wherein the annotation denotes a maximum rate of change in a potential of the unipolar electrogram within the window of interest. A quality value is assigned to the annotation, and a 3-dimensional map is generated of a portion of the heart that includes the annotation and the quality value thereof.