Remote Imaging via Voltage Gradient Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical procedures lack effective real-time imaging technologies for visualizing internal body structures during interventions, particularly in cardiac electrophysiology, where non-contact imaging methods are limited in accuracy and detail.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for producing images of internal body structures using voltage gradient measurements from an intrabody probe, which maps electrical fields to create detailed 3D images of anatomical features outside the measurement region, allowing for real-time visualization of body cavities and structures without direct contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-contact imaging methods are used to visualize internal body structures from a distance, then procedural safety is improved by avoiding direct contact, but image accuracy and detail deteriorate due to signal attenuation and distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms electrical field measurements into voltage gradient maps, changing the parameter representation from raw voltage to spatial gradients. This enables accurate reconstruction of remote anatomical structures by emphasizing boundary regions where gradients are strongest, overcoming signal attenuation issues in non-contact imaging
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from 2D voltage measurements to 3D voltage gradient mapping by calculating spatial derivatives in multiple dimensions. This dimensional transformation allows reconstruction of three-dimensional anatomical structures from non-contact electrical field data, improving both accuracy and detail
2Loss of time
If voltage gradient mapping is performed using measurements from a limited region, then measurement time is reduced, but image completeness and detail deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses voltage gradients as an intermediary to infer information about remote anatomical structures. By measuring gradients in a limited region and using them to map distant features, the system achieves complete imaging without requiring comprehensive direct measurement of all target structures, thus reducing measurement time while maintaining information completeness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary voltage gradient calculations from available measurements before complete anatomical data is obtained. This allows real-time image generation and procedural guidance to begin immediately, with images being refined as additional measurements are collected, reducing overall measurement time
3Measurement precision
If high spatial resolution imaging is achieved through detailed voltage gradient mapping, then anatomical detail is improved, but computational complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the computational domain into discrete measurement points and calculates voltage gradients independently at each location. This segmentation allows parallel processing of gradient calculations and enables high spatial resolution imaging through systematic computation of local gradients across the measurement grid
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical imaging systems with computational field analysis. By using electrical field measurements and mathematical gradient calculations, the patent achieves high-resolution imaging through software-based processing rather than hardware complexity, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining precision
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 rapid and accurate visualization of internal body structures, providing detailed 3D images of anatomical features, such as lumenal walls and apertures, with high spatial resolution, even at distances of several centimeters from the measurement region, enhancing procedural accuracy and safety.
Implementation Method 1
measuring, using electrodes of the intrabody probe and from within a first region of a body, data indicative of electrical fields induced within the body
Implementation Method 2
mapping voltage gradients of the electrical field, using the voltage measurements; and producing an image showing features located in a second region of the body and outside of the first region, based on the mapping
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and method for remote field measurement-based mapping of anatomical structures (e.g., using impedance image of electrical fields) are described. In some embodiments, an image of features within a target region is produced by analysis of a spatial pattern of field measurements made in a measurement region remote from the target region features; for example, but not exclusively, by treating the spatial arrangement of field measurements in some portion of the measurement region as indicating the spatial (e.g., angular and/or distance) arrangement of features (e.g., anatomical structure of topography and/or tissue type) in the target region.