Pacing Electrode Tracking for Cardiac Synchrony Assessment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) systems require additional imaging devices to determine cardiac synchrony, making them complex and expensive due to the need for direct visualization of heart movement.
Innovation Solution
A system using pacing elements contactable to the heart, with a movement determination device tracking these elements to infer heart movement and determine cardiac synchrony and output without direct imaging of the heart, utilizing X-ray imaging systems to detect and track the pacing elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If an additional ultrasound imaging device is used to determine cardiac synchrony, then measurement precision of cardiac function is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses pacing electrodes as intermediary objects that are already present in the heart for therapeutic purposes. These electrodes serve dual functions: delivering pacing therapy and serving as tracking targets for motion analysis. By using this intermediary, the system avoids adding separate imaging devices while still achieving accurate cardiac motion measurement through tracking the electrodes' movement in X-ray fluoroscopy images.
Solution Approach 2:
The pacing electrodes perform multiple functions simultaneously: they provide cardiac resynchronization therapy and serve as motion tracking markers for assessing cardiac synchrony. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate imaging devices, reducing system complexity while maintaining measurement capability through the existing therapeutic infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If an additional ultrasound imaging device is used to determine cardiac synchrony, then measurement precision of cardiac function is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system repurposes existing pacing electrodes as tracking intermediaries, eliminating the need to purchase and integrate expensive separate imaging devices. This approach leverages the already-present therapeutic infrastructure to achieve dual purposes: therapy delivery and functional assessment, thereby reducing overall system cost.
Solution Approach 2:
By making the pacing electrodes serve dual purposes (therapy and measurement), the system avoids the additional cost of separate imaging equipment. The multi-functional use of existing components reduces manufacturing and acquisition costs while maintaining the capability to measure cardiac synchrony accurately.
3Measurement precision
If direct imaging of the heart is performed to determine functional properties, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of directly imaging the heart tissue, the system images the pacing electrodes that are attached to the heart. The movement of these electrodes serves as a copy or proxy for heart wall motion. By tracking the electrodes' positions in fluoroscopy images, the system infers cardiac functional properties without needing to directly visualize the heart muscle, simplifying the imaging requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The pacing electrodes act as intermediary markers that translate invisible heart wall motion into visible, trackable objects. Since electrodes are radiopaque and visible in X-ray fluoroscopy, they serve as mediators that allow indirect measurement of cardiac function through their motion, avoiding the complexity of direct soft-tissue imaging.
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 accurate determination of cardiac synchrony and output without the need for direct heart imaging, simplifying the system and reducing costs by correlating pacing element movement with heart movement, thus optimizing CRT adjustments and positions.
Implementation Method 1
The movement determination device is adapted for determining a temporal image of the at least one first pacing element, of the at least one second pacing element and of the at least one third pacing element
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a system (1) for determining a functional propertyofa moving object (2), wherein the system (1) comprises a tag (3) contactable to the object (2) such that the tag (3) follows the movement of the object (2) and movement determination device (4) for determining the movement of the tag (3). The system (1) comprises further a functional propertydetermination device (5) for determining a functional propertyofthe object (2) from the determined movement of the tag (3).