Intravascular Data Overlay on Angiographic Images
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cardiovascular diagnostic techniques face challenges in accurately identifying and assessing both focal and diffuse stenoses in blood vessels, as existing methods struggle to provide comprehensive visualizations of vessel blockages and physiological measurements simultaneously, leading to incomplete diagnoses and suboptimal treatments.
Innovation Solution
The method involves obtaining intravascular data using instruments positioned within the vessel and correlating it with angiographic images, creating enhanced visualizations that overlay physiological measurements such as pressure and flow ratios onto the angiographic images, allowing for the identification and severity assessment of stenoses through color-coded intensity maps and heat maps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If physiological measurements and angiographic images are displayed on separate monitors or separate windows, then the display system can show both types of data, but medical personnel must look between separate monitors to correlate the data, making it difficult to identify corresponding portions and reducing diagnostic efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines physiological measurements and angiographic images into a single composite display window, allowing both data types to be viewed simultaneously in one location. The system overlays or juxtaposes physiological data (such as pressure measurements) with corresponding angiographic image portions, eliminating the need to switch between separate monitors and making correlation trivial.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a composite display window that acts as an intermediary between separate physiological measurement displays and angiographic images. This intermediate representation integrates both data types with clear spatial and temporal correspondence, allowing medical personnel to easily identify which physiological measurements correspond to which image portions without manual correlation.
2Ease of manufacture
If angiographic images use black and white grayscale contrast, then the image format is simple and compatible with standard displays, but radiopaque markers become difficult to identify in many instances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color coding to enhance the visibility of radiopaque markers and other critical features in angiographic images. By assigning specific colors to different structures or features (such as highlighting radiopaque markers in bright colors against the grayscale or colored background), the system maintains compatibility with standard displays while dramatically improving marker identification.
3Device complexity
If diagnostic techniques focus only on focal stenoses, then the assessment process is simpler and more straightforward, but diffuse stenoses extending over the length of the vessel may be missed or underestimated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the vessel into multiple segments or regions along its length, with each segment having its own physiological measurements and image portions displayed in the composite window. This segmentation allows systematic evaluation of both focal stenoses (affecting specific segments) and diffuse stenoses (affecting multiple consecutive segments), ensuring comprehensive assessment without overwhelming complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods for visually depicting a vessel and evaluating treatment options are disclosed. A method of evaluating a vessel of a patient, comprises: obtaining intravascular data from an intravascular instrument positioned within a vessel of a patient while the intravascular instrument is moved longitudinally through the vessel from a first position to a second position; obtaining an angiographic image of the vessel while the intravascular instrument is moved longitudinally through the vessel; correlating the intravascular data from the intravascular instrument to locations on the angiographic image; and outputting an enhanced angiographic image of the vessel on a display, the enhanced angiographic image including the angiographic image overlaid with visualizations representing the intravascular data at the correlated locations. Corresponding systems are also provided.