Determining a Flow Characteristic of a Material in a Structure
First Claim
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1. A method of determining flow of a material in a volume of a patient, comprising:
- providing an instrument having a first position element and a flexible body member carrying a second position element operable to move due to a flow of a fluid in the volume;
placing the instrument into the volume and in contact with the fluid;
extending the second position element relative to the first position element such that the second position element extends a distance from the first position element;
determining a position of the second position element relative to the first position element due to a movement of the second position element relative to the first position element from fluid motion in the volume; and
displaying a representation of the determined position of the second position element relative to the first position element to illustrate a direction of fluid flow in the volume.
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Abstract
An volume of a patient can be mapped with a system operable to identify a plurality of locations and save a plurality of locations of a mapping instrument. The mapping instrument can include one or more electrodes that can sense a voltage that can be correlated to a three dimensional location of the electrode at the time of the sensing or measurement. Therefore, a map of a volume can be determined based upon the sensing of the plurality of points without the use of other imaging devices. An implantable medical device can then be navigated relative to the mapping data.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of determining flow of a material in a volume of a patient, comprising:
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providing an instrument having a first position element and a flexible body member carrying a second position element operable to move due to a flow of a fluid in the volume; placing the instrument into the volume and in contact with the fluid; extending the second position element relative to the first position element such that the second position element extends a distance from the first position element; determining a position of the second position element relative to the first position element due to a movement of the second position element relative to the first position element from fluid motion in the volume; and displaying a representation of the determined position of the second position element relative to the first position element to illustrate a direction of fluid flow in the volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for determining a flow of material in a volume of a patient, comprising:
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an instrument having a housing and a flexible body member, the housing including proximal and distal ends and an internal passage extending between the proximal and distal ends, the flexible body member arranged to be passed through the housing; a first position element affixed to an exterior of the housing, wherein a portion of the housing is adapted to be placed in the volume so as to place the first position element in contact with a fluid in the volume of the patient; and a second position element affixed to the flexible body member, wherein a distal end of the flexible body member is arranged to be selectively extended a certain distance beyond the distal end of the housing so as to place the second position element in contact with the fluid when the portion of the housing is positioned in the volume, the extended distal end of the flexible body member operable to flex due to a flow of the fluid in the volume; wherein the first position element and the second position element are each arranged to sense an electrical property and provide data for determining a position of the first position element and a change in position of the second position element relative to the first position element, the change in position of the second position element relative to the first position element being indicative of the flow of the fluid in the volume. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of determining flow of a material in a fluid filled volume of a patient, comprising:
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providing an instrument having a first position element and a flexible body member carrying a second position element operable to move due to a flow of a fluid in the volume; placing the instrument into the fluid filled volume and in contact with the fluid; positioning the second position element relative to the first position element such that the second position element extends a distance from the first position element; determining a first position of the first position element relative to a second position of the second position element due to a movement of the second position element relative to the first position element because of flow of the fluid in the fluid filled volume; and determining a direction of flow of the fluid based on the determined first position relative to the determined second position.
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Specification