Automatic Local Activation Time Measurement with Dynamic Reference Switching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining local activation time (LAT) in cardiac interventional procedures are prone to inaccuracies and time-consuming, often resulting in incomplete activation maps due to instability in reference channels, leading to prolonged procedures and increased risk for patients.
Innovation Solution
An automatic method for determining LAT from multi-channel cardiac electrogram signals using ventricular and mapping channel signals, with the ability to switch to a secondary reference channel when timing stability is lost, ensuring continuous measurement and minimizing data loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single reference channel is used for LAT measurement, then the measurement process is simple, but timing stability is lost when the reference channel becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple reference channels into a unified reference system. When the primary reference channel becomes unstable, the system merges with a secondary reference channel to maintain continuous LAT measurement capability, thus resolving the contradiction between simple configuration and timing stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between primary and secondary reference channels based on timing stability assessment. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain reliability while keeping the operational complexity low during normal conditions.
2Reliability
If manual monitoring and switching of reference channels is performed, then timing stability can be maintained, but procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic self-monitoring and self-switching between reference channels based on predefined timing stability criteria. This eliminates the need for manual intervention, maintaining timing stability while reducing procedure time by automating the reference channel management process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors timing stability and provides feedback to automatically trigger reference channel switching when degradation is detected. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures timing stability is maintained without requiring manual oversight or increasing procedure time.
3Productivity
If rapid LAT measurement is performed, then procedure time is reduced, but measurement precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of reference channel timing stability before initiating LAT measurement. By pre-validating the reference channel quality, the system ensures measurement precision is maintained while enabling rapid measurement execution without compromising accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts measurement parameters based on reference channel timing stability characteristics. When timing stability is high, faster measurement algorithms are used; when timing stability varies, the system adapts parameters to maintain precision, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and accuracy.
4Reliability
If multiple reference channels are monitored simultaneously, then timing stability is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and monitors only the critical timing stability parameters from multiple reference channels, rather than fully processing all channel data. This selective extraction approach maintains timing stability through multi-channel monitoring while minimizing the increase in device complexity by focusing only on essential parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic method of determining local activation time (LAT) from at least four multi-channel cardiac electrogram signals including a ventricular channel, a mapping channel and a plurality of reference channels. The method comprises (a) storing the cardiac channel signals, (b) using the ventricular and mapping channel signals and a first reference channel signal to compute LAT values at a plurality of mapping-channel locations, (c) monitoring the timing stability of the first reference channel signal, and (d) if the timing stability of the monitored signal falls below a stability standard, using the signal of a second reference channel to determine LAT values. Substantial loss of LAT values is avoided in spite of loss of timing stability.