Transesophageal probe having simultaneous pacing and echocardiographic capability, and method of diagnosing heart disease using same
First Claim
1. A transesophageal instrument to perform simultaneous pacing and echocardiography of an organ of a patient, comprising:
- an elongated probe adaptable to be inserted into the esophagus of a patient having a distal end and a proximal end;
echo producing means comprising a transducer capable of producing signals receivable and convertible into sonographic images located at a selected location near the distal end of said probe to produce a signal indicative of the sonic energy emitted by said echo producing means reflecting sonic energy off an organ of said patient and convertible into sonographic images;
organ stimulating and pacing means adaptable to the periphery of said probe and located a selected distance from said echo producing means connectable to an electrical stimulus generating device;
signal transmission means connectable to said echo producing means to transmit said signal produced by said echo producing means to a receiver to receive said signal from said echo producing means and convert said signal into a sonogram indicative of the motion of said organ of said patient; and
connecting means connectable to said organ stimulating and pacing means and said stimulus generating device to transmit stimuli produced by said stimulus generating means to said organ stimulating means,whereby said probe is capable of simultaneously stimulating and pacing said organ of said patient while producing a real-time sonogram of said paced organ.
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Abstract
Transesophageal echocardiographic probe having simultaneous cardiac pacing and echocardiographic capability. The inventive probe is provided with transducer means to provide echocardiographic imaging of the ventricular wall motion of a patient'"'"'s heart as it is stress-paced by a novel pacing electrode connectable to the periphery of the transesophageal probe. By locating the pacing electrode upon the periphery of the probe a selected distance from the echo transducer, placement of the pacing electrode to produce optimal atrial pacing can be optimized. A method setting forth a diagnostic protocol to achieve echocardiographic diagnosis is also disclosed.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A transesophageal instrument to perform simultaneous pacing and echocardiography of an organ of a patient, comprising:
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an elongated probe adaptable to be inserted into the esophagus of a patient having a distal end and a proximal end; echo producing means comprising a transducer capable of producing signals receivable and convertible into sonographic images located at a selected location near the distal end of said probe to produce a signal indicative of the sonic energy emitted by said echo producing means reflecting sonic energy off an organ of said patient and convertible into sonographic images; organ stimulating and pacing means adaptable to the periphery of said probe and located a selected distance from said echo producing means connectable to an electrical stimulus generating device; signal transmission means connectable to said echo producing means to transmit said signal produced by said echo producing means to a receiver to receive said signal from said echo producing means and convert said signal into a sonogram indicative of the motion of said organ of said patient; and connecting means connectable to said organ stimulating and pacing means and said stimulus generating device to transmit stimuli produced by said stimulus generating means to said organ stimulating means, whereby said probe is capable of simultaneously stimulating and pacing said organ of said patient while producing a real-time sonogram of said paced organ. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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- 13. A cardiologic pacing device comprising a transesophageal probe insertable into the esophagus of a patient, having a pair of ring electrodes in selected space relation to each other peripherally attachable a selected peripheral distance around the periphery of said probe and located a selected distance from the distal end of said probe to place said pair of ring electrodes in selected position in relation to the patient'"'"'s heart, each of said ring electrodes including a conductive lead having a proximal end connectable to the positive or negative output terminal of an electrical cardiologic pulse generator and a distal end connectable to said ring electrodes, whereby said pacing device is capable of imparting a signal from said pulse generator to the heart of said patient.
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23. Method of diagnosing heart disease by simultaneously transesophageally electrically stimulating and pacing the heart of a patient and producing and recording a transesophageal sonogram of the wall motion of the patient'"'"'s heart in response to the pacing signal comprising the steps of:
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determining the patient'"'"'s at-rest heart rate and using same as a base reference point; inserting an elongated transesophageal probe into the esophagus of a patient, said probe having echo producing means thereon located near the distal end thereof connectable to a sonogram recording device connectable to the proximal end thereof, and having a pacing electrode comprising a pair of ring electrodes in spaced relationship a selected distance from said echo producing means attachable to the outer periphery of said probe and connectable from the proximal end of said probe to an electrical pulse generator capable of producing electrical pulses to induce ventricular activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; passing the probe lower into the esophagus until said sonogram recording device reveals a first image indicative of a selected area of the patient'"'"'s heart and fixing the position of said probe within the esophagus of the patient when the sonogram recording device reveals a second sonographic image indicative of the desired area of the patient'"'"'s heart; initiating selected pulses from said electrical pulse generator to said pacing electrode whereby activity of the patient'"'"'s heart is increased by stimuli from said pulse generator; and producing a continuous sonogram of motion of the selected area of the patient'"'"'s heart during said stimulated heart activity, whereby coronary disease may be detected by observing abnormal heart motion in said second sonographic image produced in response to said stimulated heart activity. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification