Fault-Tolerant Pulsed Field Ablation Through Electrode Subsets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intravascular or percutaneous medical procedures face challenges in delivering tissue-ablative energy safely and efficiently, with conventional systems extending procedure time due to fault conditions requiring energy delivery termination and correction.
Innovation Solution
A medical system that includes a data processing device system to identify fault conditions during pulsed field ablation and reconfigure energy delivery to separate subsets of electrodes, allowing continuous ablation without interrupting the procedure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fault detection and correction procedures are implemented, then safety is improved, but procedure time increases due to energy delivery termination
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode array is divided into multiple independent subsets (first subset, second subset, third subset). When a fault condition is detected in one subset, energy delivery can be immediately switched to or from other subsets without interrupting the overall ablation procedure. This segmentation allows continuous treatment while maintaining safety through fault isolation.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If energy delivery is terminated upon fault detection, then patient safety is ensured, but treatment continuity is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous energy delivery to the target tissue by switching between multiple electrode subsets. When a fault is detected in one subset, the controller seamlessly transitions energy delivery to another subset, ensuring the ablation process continues without interruption while still protecting the patient from harmful effects of the faulty subset.
3Reliability
If multiple electrode subsets are used for fault tolerance, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed to perform multiple functions: it manages energy delivery to electrode subsets, monitors for fault conditions, isolates faulty subsets, and switches between subsets. This multi-functionality is achieved within a single controller unit, avoiding the need for separate control systems for each function and thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
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
Facilitates safe and efficient delivery of tissue-ablative energy by isolating fault conditions to smaller electrode subsets, reducing overall procedure time and ensuring uninterrupted treatment.
Implementation Method 1
a first group of electrodes from the plurality of electrodes to concurrently and collectively deliver as a group first energy configured to cause pulsed field ablation of bodily tissue
Implementation Method 2
If relatively greater field strength is established, then permanent, and sometimes larger, pores form in the tissue cells, the pores allowing loss of control of ion concentration gradients (both inward and outward) thereby resulting in cell death (e.g., in a process sometimes referred to as irreversible electroporation)
Data Source
AI summary
A medical system may include a data processing device configured by a program, stored by a memory device system, at least to cause, via an input-output device system, a first group of electrodes to concurrently and collectively deliver as a group first energy configured to cause pulsed field ablation of bodily tissue; identify, at least in response to the first group of electrodes concurrently and collectively attempting to deliver as a group the first energy, that a fault condition has occurred; and cause, via the input-output device system and in response to identifying that the fault condition has occurred, the first group of electrodes to non-concurrently deliver, in separate subsets of electrodes, respective second energies to cause pulsed field ablation of bodily tissue, the separate subsets of electrodes including electrodes that collectively make up the first group of electrodes.