Systems and methods for matching electrical characteristics and propagation velocities in cardiac tissue
First Claim
1. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
- first means for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at a location within the heart,second means for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at the location, andthird means for matching the first and second electrical signals to derive a diagnostic output indicative of the condition of heart tissue at the location.
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Abstract
Systems and methods examine heart tissue morphology using three or more spaced apart electrodes, at least two of which are located within the heart in contact with endocardial tissue. The systems and methods transmit electrical current through a region of heart tissue lying between selected pairs of the electrodes, at least one of the electrodes in each pair being located within the heart. The systems and methods derive the electrical characteristic of tissue lying between the electrode pairs based, at least in part, upon sensing tissue impedances. The systems and methods also sense the timing of local depolarization events in the tissue in which impedance is sensed and derive therefrom the propagation velocities of the sensed depolarization events. The systems and methods match the derived tissue electrical characteristics with the derived propagation velocities in spatial relation to the electrodes to characterize the morphology of the contacted heart tissue. This matching provides precise differentiation between regions of infarcted heart tissue and healthy heart tissue.
84 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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first means for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at a location within the heart, second means for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at the location, and third means for matching the first and second electrical signals to derive a diagnostic output indicative of the condition of heart tissue at the location. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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2. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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first means for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at a location within the heart, second means for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at the location, and third means for matched filtering the first and second electrical signals to derive a diagnostic output indicative of the condition of heart tissue at the location.
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5. A system for locating within a heart areas of cardiac tissue having pre-identified characteristics comprising:
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a plurality of spaced electrodes configured to make electrical contact with different regions of the cardiac tissue, first means coupled to the electrodes for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of a particular tissue characteristic at the different regions, second means coupled to the electrodes for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of a different particular tissue characteristic at the different regions, and matching means for matching the first and second electrical signals to identify regions of the cardiac tissue having both particular tissue characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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6. A system for locating within a heart areas of cardiac tissue having pre-identified characteristics comprising:
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a plurality of spaced electrodes configured to make electrical contact with different regions of the cardiac tissue, first means coupled to the electrodes for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of a particular tissue characteristic at the different regions, second means coupled to the electrodes for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of a different particular tissue characteristic at the different regions, and matched filtering means for matched filtering the first and second electrical signals to identify regions of the cardiac tissue having both particular tissue characteristics.
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9. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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first means for obtaining a first electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at a location within the heart, second means for obtaining a second, different electrical signal indicative of the condition of the heart tissue at the location, third means for creating a template from one of the first or second electrical signals, and fourth means for matching the other of the first or second electrical signals with the template to derive a diagnostic output indicative of the condition of heart tissue at the location.
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10. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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an electrode configured to make electrical contact with a region of cardiac tissue, first means coupled to the electrode for sensing a first electrical event in the tissue region, second means coupled to the electrode for sensing a second electrical event in the tissue region, third means coupled to the first and second means for matching the sensed first and second electrical events to derive a matching output. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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11. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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an electrode configured to make electrical contact with a region of cardiac tissue, first means coupled to the electrode for sensing a first electrical event in the tissue region, second means coupled to the electrode for sensing a second electrical event in the tissue region, third means coupled to the first and second means for matched filtering the sensed first and second electrical events to derive a matching output.
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14. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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an electrode configured to make electrical contact with a region of cardiac tissue, first means coupled to the electrode for sensing a first electrical event in the tissue region, second means for creating a template based on the first electrical event, third means for storing the template, fourth means coupled to the electrode for sensing a second electrical event in the tissue region, fifth means coupled to the first and third means for matching the second electrical event with the template to derive a matching output, and sixth means for analyzing the matching output to derive heart morphology.
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15. A system for examining heart tissue comprising:
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an electrode configured to make electrical contact with a region of cardiac tissue, a first circuit coupled to the electrode for sensing a first electrical event in the tissue region, a second circuit coupled to the electrode for sensing a second electrical event in the tissue region, a matching circuit coupled to the first and second circuits for matching the sensed first and second electrical events to derive a matching output. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of diagnosing the condition of cardiac tissue at particular locations within the heart comprising the steps of:
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positioning an electrode at the particular location, operating the electrode to sense a first characteristic of the cardiac tissue at the particular location using a first electrically based diagnostic technique, operating the electrode to sense a second characteristic of the cardiac tissue at the particular location using a second electrically based diagnostic technique, matching the sensed first and second characteristics to generate an output indicative of the condition of the cardiac tissue at the particular location based on the concurrence of the first and second characteristics as sensed by the first and second electrically based diagnostic techniques. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification