Randomized Electrode Array for Heart Pacemaker Field Shaping

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing heart pacemakers lack control over the propagation of electric pulses, leading to inefficient heart pumping due to uncontrolled current distribution and propagation, which results in suboptimal contraction sequences and increased muscle damage from multiple electrode placements.

Innovation Solution

A heart-type electrical stimulator with randomly arranged multiple shaped electrodes, including active and passive types, allows for precise control of current injection magnitude, direction, and timing, shaping the electric field to optimize heart muscle contraction sequences by varying electrode voltages and positions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If traditional heart pacemakers with fixed electrode placements are used, then the device structure is simple, but the current distribution is uncontrolled leading to inefficient heart pumping

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheart pumping efficiencyVSAvoidelectrode arrangement complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The stimulator surface is divided into multiple discrete electrodes (at least eight) arranged in a randomized pattern, allowing independent control of current injection at each location. This segmentation enables precise spatial control of electric field distribution to optimize contraction sequences in different heart regions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different regions of the stimulator apply different electrical characteristics through selectively activated electrodes. The system creates locally optimized electric field patterns tailored to specific heart muscle regions, enabling differentiated stimulation strategies for atria and ventricles or different pathological conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Manufacturing precision

If multiple electrodes are used for current injection, then the control over electric field shaping is improved, but the device complexity and electrode placement difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveelectric field control precisionVSAvoidelectrode placement ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The electrodes are arranged in a randomized, asymmetric pattern rather than symmetric geometric configurations. This asymmetric distribution creates more versatile electric field shaping capabilities and avoids the limitations of symmetric arrangements, while the standardized stimulator body maintains manufacturing feasibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #4Asymmetry

Solution Approach 2:

The randomized electrode array serves multiple functions: current injection, electric field shaping, and potential sensing. The same electrode structure can be used for different stimulation patterns, making the device universally applicable to various cardiac conditions without requiring specialized electrode configurations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of operation

If conventional pacemaker electrodes are used, then the device is easy to implant, but muscle damage occurs due to uncontrolled current propagation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveimplantation easeVSAvoidmuscle damage from uncontrolled current

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system incorporates sensing capabilities that detect the heart's electrical activity and mechanical response to stimulation. This feedback allows real-time adjustment of stimulation parameters to optimize contraction sequences and minimize harmful effects while maintaining implantability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The stimulator dynamically adjusts which electrodes are active and their respective current levels based on real-time heart conditions. This dynamic control enables adaptation to changing cardiac states, optimizing therapeutic effect while minimizing tissue damage throughout the device's operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

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

This approach enhances heart pumping efficiency by improving the contraction sequence and reducing muscle damage, achieving a higher pumping fraction and better control over the electric field, thereby optimizing blood volume pumped per unit energy spent.

Implementation Method 1

The electrical nature of muscle contraction was first observed in the waning years of the 1700s by Luigi Galvani, who noticed that a frog's leg contracted when subjected to an electric current. Today it is known that all our muscles, from a blinking eye to a walking leg, work on the same principles observed by Galvani—including out heart. The heart contracts as response to an electric pulse

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElectrical depolarization: Electric Field

Data Source

PatentUS8954145B2Animal and plant cell electric stimulator with randomized spatial distribution of electrodes for both current injection and for electric field shaping

Publication Date: 2015.02.10 LEE CHONG IL

AI summary

An electric stimulator for heart, brain, organs and general cells with a random shape and position of electrodes which enhances its performance for breaking the symmetry. Two types of electrodes are introduced: type-1, or active electrodes are similar to prior art, while type-2, or passive electrodes have not been used in this context. Passive electrodes are electrically insulated, being unable to inject current in the surrounding medium, but they are capable of shaping the electric field, which has consequence on the path of the stimulating currents injected by type-1 electrodes.