Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080221425 | System and method for local deformable registration of a catheter navigation system to image data or a model - A method for registering a catheter navigation system to a three-dimensional image generally includes obtaining a three-dimensional image including position information for a plurality of surface points on a part of a patient's body, using a catheter navigation system to place a tool at a location on the surface of the patient's body, measuring position information for the surface location, identifying a corresponding location on the image, associating position information for the surface location and the location identified on the image as a fiducial pair, and using at least one fiducial pair to generate a mapping function. The mapping function transforms points within the coordinate system of the catheter navigation to the coordinate system of the three-dimensional image such that, for each fiducial pair, the mapping error is about zero. Suitable warping algorithms include thin plate splines, mean value coordinates, and radial basis function networks. | 09-11-2008 |
20080255470 | CONTACT SENSOR AND SHEATH EXIT SENSOR - A system and method is provided that allows for determining the local impedance of one or more electrodes of an electrode catheter. Such local impedance may be utilized to identify the relative position of an electrode catheter to a sheath of a guiding introducer. In another arrangement, local impedance of a catheter electrode can be utilized to calibrate a catheter electrode to provide improved contact sensing. | 10-16-2008 |
20100168557 | MULTI-ELECTRODE ABLATION SENSING CATHETER AND SYSTEM - The invention is directed to a multi-electrode ablation sensing catheter and system suitable for medical procedures such as cardiac ablation. In one embodiment of the invention, a catheter is provided having an elongated catheter shaft and a catheter tip having two or more closely spaced electrodes mounted on the catheter tip, where the electrodes are coupled to a plurality of electronic circuitries and are used for electrogram sensing, impedance sensing, and location sensing and orientation. In another embodiment of the invention, a catheter system is provided having a catheter with an elongated catheter shaft and a catheter tip with two or more closely spaced electrodes mounted on the catheter tip, and an RF generator circuitry, an electrogram sensing circuitry, an impedance sensing circuitry, and a location sensing and orientation circuitry. | 07-01-2010 |
20110276046 | Monitoring, Managing and/or Protecting System and Method for Non-Targeted Tissue - A monitoring, managing and protecting system is provided that includes a monitoring probe working in conjunction with an ablating device. The probe is configured to be positioned in close proximity to a region of non-targeted tissue proximate an ablation site of targeted tissue and to be operatively connected to an electrical response assessment system or component. The probe includes an elongate shaft having proximal and distal ends, with a handle disposed at the proximal end thereof and a tissue monitoring and protecting apparatus disposed at the distal end thereof. The ablating device includes an elongate shaft having proximal and distal ends, with a handle mounted at the proximal end thereof and an ablation element mounted at the distal end thereof. The monitoring probe measures electrical characteristics of the non-targeted tissue and/or of the tissue between the monitoring electrode and the ablation electrode. The electrical response assessment system determines whether the tissue is being damaged based on the electrical measurements. The monitoring, managing and protecting system can notify a practitioner based on the determination, or modify or stop the ablation procedure. | 11-10-2011 |
20120035460 | MOVABLE MAGNET FOR MAGNETICALLY GUIDED CATHETER - A catheter is disclosed having a flexible tubing with a proximal end and a distal end. The catheter comprising at least one movable magnet provided within the distal end of the flexible tubing. A control mechanism is operable to selectively activate the at least one movable magnet from the proximal end of the flexible tubing. The at least one movable magnet is responsive to an external magnetic field to position and guide the distal end of the flexible tubing within a body of a patient. | 02-09-2012 |
20120123326 | CATHETER SYSTEMS WITH DISTAL END FUNCTION, SUCH AS DISTAL DEFLECTION, USING REMOTE ACTUATION OR LOW INPUT FORCE - Systems capable of providing force and displacement outputs sufficient to actuate remote mechanisms to enhance catheter capabilities include both low-force and remote actuation arrangements. The remote actuation and low-force actuation systems may be used for catheter distal end deflection, sensor deployment, feedback controlled movement, fluid delivery rate and directional control applications as well as catheter retention mechanism deployment. Remote actuation mechanism may employ phase change based, magnetic based or hydraulic based. Low-force remote actuation structures include a coaxially-extending pull wire, a reaction member, and a remote mechanism responsive to the pull force. | 05-17-2012 |
20120157825 | Navigational Reference Dislodgement Detection Method and System - A method of detecting dislodgement of a navigational reference for a localization system includes securing a reference catheter, including at least one reference localization element, at an initial reference location within a localization field. The positions of one or more of the reference localization elements are monitored for a perceived displacement that suggests that the reference catheter has become dislodged from the initial reference location (e.g., a displacement above a certain threshold, such as about 4 mm). The direction of this perceived displacement may then be further analyzed (e.g., compared to a predicted or most likely direction of displacement) to determine whether there has been an actual dislodgement of the reference catheter, and, if so, an appropriate signal (e.g., an audible or visual warning) may be generated. Upon dislodgement, guidance may be provided to aid the practitioner in restoring the reference catheter to its initial location. | 06-21-2012 |
20120165658 | SYSTEM, ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE, AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING A MEDICAL DEVICE AND/OR ONE OR MORE SENSORS MOUNTED THEREON - Systems and methods for characterizing a medical device and/or the sensors thereof are provided. A system comprises an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to acquire first and second configurations of the device. The ECU is configured to process the configurations to calculate an index used to characterize the device and/or the sensors thereof. An article of manufacture comprises a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program encoded thereon for characterizing the device and/or the sensor thereof. The program includes code for acquiring first and second configurations of the device, and processing them together to calculate an index used to characterize the device and/or the sensors thereof. A method for characterizing the device and/or the sensors thereof comprises providing an ECU, acquiring, by the ECU, first and second configurations of the device, and processing them together to calculate an index used to characterize the device and/or the sensors thereof. | 06-28-2012 |
20120172702 | DYNAMIC ADAPTIVE RESPIRATION COMPENSATION WITH AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL - A system for determining a location of an electrode of a medical device (e.g., a catheter) in a body of a patient includes a localization block for producing an uncompensated electrode location, a motion compensation block for producing a compensation signal (i.e., for respiration, cardiac, etc.), and a mechanism for subtracting the compensation signal from the uncompensated electrode location. The result is a corrected electrode location substantially free of respiration and cardiac artifacts. The motion compensation block includes a dynamic adaptation feature which accounts for changes in a patient's respiration patterns as well as intentional movements of the medical device to different locations within the patient's body. The system further includes an automatic compensation gain control which suppresses compensation when certain conditions, such as noise or sudden patch impedance changes, are detected. | 07-05-2012 |
20130006137 | CONTACT SENSOR AND SHEATH EXIT SENSOR - A system and method is provided that allows for determining the local impedance of one or more electrodes of an electrode catheter. Such local impedance may be utilized to identify the relative position of an electrode catheter to a sheath of a guiding introducer. In another arrangement, local impedance of a catheter electrode can be utilized to calibrate a catheter electrode to provide improved contact sensing. | 01-03-2013 |
20130138404 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING AND/OR REPAIRING A SURFACE MODEL OF A GEOMETRIC STRUCTURE - A method and system for generating and/or repairing surface models is provided. The method comprises acquiring data points corresponding to surface locations of a structure. The method further comprises generating a surface model of the structure based on the data points. The method further comprises adding additional data points to the point cloud formed by the acquired data points, and updating the model by constructing a surface model based on the added data points. The system comprises a processing apparatus configured to acquire data points corresponding to respective surface locations of a structure. The processing apparatus is further configured to generate a surface model of the structure based on the data points. The processing apparatus is further configured to add additional data points to the point cloud formed by the acquired data points, and update the surface model by constructing a surface model based on the added data points. | 05-30-2013 |
20130172712 | ELECTRICALLY TRANSPARENT INTRODUCER SHEATH - An introducer sheath for a medical device is provided. The sheath includes a deformable, elongate body disposed about a longitudinal axis. The body has proximal and distal ends and defines a lumen extending between the proximal and distal ends and configured to allow passage of the medical device therethrough. The body is configured to allow an electric current to pass radially between a space outside of the body and the lumen such that the position of the medical device within a patient can be monitored and electrogram readings from body tissues can be measured while the device is in the sheath. In some embodiments of the invention, the body may include a one or more apertures extending from the radially outer surface of the body to the lumen or a portion of the body may be made from a conductive and/or fluid permeable material. | 07-04-2013 |
20130325035 | Robotic surgical system and method for automated therapy delivery - A method of navigating a medical device through a body of a patient includes providing a topography of at least a portion of the body, accepting user input defining a navigation path, robotically navigating the medical device to a starting point on the path, and robotically navigating the medical device along the navigation path to an endpoint. Waypoints defining the navigation path may be input on a graphical representation of the topography using a user interface such as a pointing device or touchscreen. The navigation path may also be defined by tracing a substantially continuous path on the graphical representation. A therapy may be administered while robotically navigating the medical device along the navigation path, either forward or in reverse, or while navigating the medical device along a return path defined by a plurality of virtual breadcrumbs generated as the medical device traverses the navigation path. | 12-05-2013 |
20130338467 | Electrode catheter device with indifferent electrode for direct current tissue therapies - An electrode catheter device with indifferent electrode for direct current tissue therapies is disclosed. An example of the catheter device has a flexible tubing with at least one ablation electrode. The catheter device also may also be used with a sheath for introducing the flexible tubing inside a patient's body. An indifferent electrode on the sheath can provide a ground for a direct current (DC) pulse to deliver electrical energy and create an electrical field adjacent a tissue. Various other embodiments are also disclosed. | 12-19-2013 |
20140094768 | Movable magnet for magnetically guided catheter - A catheter is disclosed having a flexible tubing with a proximal end and a distal end. The catheter comprising at least one movable magnet provided within the distal end of the flexible tubing. A control mechanism is operable to selectively activate the at least one movable magnet from the proximal end of the flexible tubing. The at least one movable magnet is responsive to an external magnetic field to position and guide the distal end of the flexible tubing within a body of a patient. | 04-03-2014 |
20140128722 | Noise tolerant localization systems and methods - A system and method for tracking catheter electrode locations with the body of a patient during an MRI scan sequence includes mitigation logic configured to identify one or more impedance measurements that were taken during potentially noise-inducing conditions (i.e., magnet gradients, RF pulses), and were thus subject to corruption by noise. The mitigation logic is configured to replace the potentially corrupt impedance measurements with previously-obtained impedance measurements taken from an immediately preceding acquisition cycle (e.g., from a previous time-slice). | 05-08-2014 |
20140276078 | ELECTRODE CONTACT FEEDBACK SYSTEM - A sensing assembly for sensing contact with an object is disclosed. The contact sensing assembly may comprise an elongate tubular body. An electrode may be connected to the elongate tubular body. A vibration element is operatively connected with the electrode and configured to deliver a vibration-inducing signal to induce vibration of the electrode. A sensor is configured to monitor the electrode for a perturbation in the induced vibration. The perturbation results from contact between the electrode and the object. | 09-18-2014 |
20140371576 | Robotic surgical system and method for diagnostic data mapping - A method of generating a diagnosis map of at least a portion of the heart includes inserting an electrode within the portion of a heart, robotically moving the electrode therein, measuring electrophysiology information at a point on the surface of the heart, associating the measured electrophysiology information with position information for the point on the surface of the heart, repeating the measuring and associating steps for a plurality of points on the surface of the heart, thereby generating a plurality of surface diagnostic data points, and generating the diagnosis map therefrom. The electrode may be moved within the heart randomly, pseudo-randomly, or according to one or more predetermined patterns. A three-dimensional model of the portion of the heart may be provided and presented as a graphical representation, either with or without information indicative of the measured electrophysiology information superimposed thereon. | 12-18-2014 |