Systems and methods for examining heart tissue employing multiple electrode structures and roving electrodes
First Claim
1. A system for acquiring electrograms comprisingan array of multiple electrodes supported for operative association with a region of heart tissue,roving second electrode means supported for movement relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart, anda processing element coupled to the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means for conditioning one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means to emit a pacing signal and for conditioning the other one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means to record paced electrograms occurring as a result of the pacing signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods use an array of multiple electrodes supported for operative association with a region of heart tissue, in tandem with a roving second electrode supported for movement relative to the multiple electrode means for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart. An analog or digital processing element conditions one of the multiple electrodes and the roving electrode to emit a pacing signal while the other one of the multiple electrodes and the roving electrode records paced electrograms occurring as a result of the pacing signal. A processing element and method input a template of a cardiac event of known diagnosis sensed using the array of multiple electrodes. The processing element and method inputs a sample of a cardiac event acquired by pacing from at least one roving electrode and sensed with the array of multiple electrodes. The processing element and method electronically compare the input sample to the input template and generates an output based upon the comparison. The output can aid the physician in locating potentially appropriate sites for ablation.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A system for acquiring electrograms comprising
an array of multiple electrodes supported for operative association with a region of heart tissue, roving second electrode means supported for movement relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart, and a processing element coupled to the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means for conditioning one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means to emit a pacing signal and for conditioning the other one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means to record paced electrograms occurring as a result of the pacing signal.
-
4. A system for analyzing electrograms comprising
an array of multiple electrodes supported for operative association with a region of heart tissue, a roving second electrode supported for movement relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart, a processing element coupled to the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode for conditioning one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode to emit a pacing signal and for conditioning the other one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode to record paced electrograms occurring as a result of the pacing signal, and means for processing the paced electrograms.
-
7. A system for analyzing biopotential morphologies in myocardial tissue comprising
an array of multiple electrodes supported for operative association with a region of heart tissue, a roving second electrode supported for movement relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart, and a processing element electrically coupled to the multiple electrodes the roving second electrode including first means for conditioning the multiple electrodes to sense a sample of biopotentials occurring during a cardiac event of known diagnosis and for creating a template based upon the sensed biopotential sample, second means for conditioning either one of the multiple electrodes or the roving second electrode to emit a pacing signal and to sense with the multiple electrodes a sample of the paced biopotentials occurring as a result of the pacing signal, and third means for electronically comparing the paced biopotential sample to the template and generating an output based upon the comparison.
-
18. A method for examining heart tissue comprising the steps of
locating an array of multiple electrodes in operative association with a region of heart tissue, moving a roving second electrode means relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart and conditioning one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means to emit a pacing signal and to record with the other one of the multiple electrodes and the roving second electrode means paced electrograms occurring as a result of the pacing signal.
-
20. A method for analyzing biopotential morphologies in myocardial tissue comprising the steps of
positioning an array of multiple electrodes in operative association with a region of heart tissue, moving a roving second electrode means relative to the multiple electrodes for operative association with selected, different regions of endocardial tissue within the heart, conditioning the multiple electrodes to sense a sample of biopotentials occurring during a cardiac event of known diagnosis and for creating a template based upon the sensed biopotential sample, conditioning either one of the multiple electrodes or the roving second electrode means to emit a pacing signal and sensing with the multiple electrodes a sample of the paced biopotentials occurring as a result of the pacing signal, electronically comparing the paced biopotential sample to the template and generating an output based upon the comparison.
Specification