Torso Vest for Noninvasive Cardiac Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for mapping electrical potentials in the heart are invasive and cumbersome, requiring multiple electrodes and sensors to be attached to the patient's skin, prolonging procedures and complicating the mapping and ablation processes.
Innovation Solution
A wearable torso vest integrated with various electrodes and sensors, including sensing electrodes, magnetic location sensors, and patches, which allows for noninvasive mapping of intracardiac electropotentials by emitting and receiving signals from a catheter, establishing a correspondence matrix for subsequent mapping without further invasive procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple electrodes and sensors are attached separately to the patient's skin, then comprehensive cardiac mapping data can be obtained, but the procedure becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate electrodes (ECG electrodes, ACL electrodes, ablation indifferent electrode, reference electrode) and sensors (location sensors) into a single integrated torso vest garment. This merging eliminates the need for separate attachment procedures for each component, reducing procedural complexity while maintaining comprehensive cardiac mapping capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The torso vest is designed as a multi-functional device that simultaneously performs ECG monitoring, ACL measurements, ablation current return, reference potential provision, and location tracking. This universal design allows one garment to replace multiple separate devices, streamlining the overall procedure.
2Measurement precision
If multiple electrodes and sensors are attached separately to the patient's skin, then comprehensive cardiac mapping data can be obtained, but patient discomfort and procedure duration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The torso vest is pre-assembled with all necessary electrodes and sensors integrated into the garment structure before patient contact. This preliminary preparation eliminates the time-consuming step-by-step attachment process, allowing the clinician to simply don the pre-configured vest on the patient, thereby reducing procedure duration.
3Measurement precision
If a catheter is used for invasive signal emission and detection, then accurate intracardiac electropotential mapping can be achieved, but the procedure becomes invasive and requires repeated insertions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by using the catheter not for continuous monitoring but only for initial matrix establishment. After the catheter emits test signals and the vest records responses to create the correspondence matrix, the catheter is withdrawn. Subsequent monitoring uses only the non-invasive vest, eliminating repeated invasive insertions while preserving measurement accuracy through the pre-established matrix.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a mathematical model (correspondence matrix) that copies the relationship between intracardiac potentials and body surface potentials. Once established using the catheter, this matrix model allows the non-invasive vest to accurately reconstruct intracardiac electropotentials without requiring physical presence of the catheter, thereby eliminating repeated invasiveness.
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 efficient and streamlined cardiac mapping and ablation procedures by enabling noninvasive evaluation of cardiac bioelectric signals, reducing patient discomfort and procedure duration, and allowing for mapping of areas not previously visited by the catheter.
Implementation Method 1
measuring body surface potentials at an array of positions on the skin of a patient
Implementation Method 2
active current location (ACL) electrodes for measuring impedance
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Cardiac catheterization is carried out by clothing a subject in a torso vest having a plurality of sensing electrodes, magnetic location sensors, active current location sensors and patches for establishing galvanic contact with the skin. A multi-electrode probe is inserted into a cardiac chamber such that a plurality of intracardiac electrodes are disposed at respective locations in the heart. Respective locations are determined using the active current location sensors, Electrical calibration signals are emitted from the intracardiac electrodes, and received in the sensing electrodes of the torso vest. Relationships between the emitted calibration signals and the received calibration signals in the intracardiac electrodes are established to map a correspondence between the received calibration signals and the respective locations.