Method and device for determining the location of electrical activity of nerve cells

A device for determining the location of electrical activity of nerve cells in a body or in body tissue, comprising:

• a data capture unit configured to detect patient-specific parameters of the body or body tissue, wherein said parameters can be used to describe an electrical conductivity of the body or body tissue;
• a computational unit operatively coupled to the data capture unit, wherein said computational unit is configured to obtain the patient-specific parameters from the data capture unit;
• a database accessible by the computational unit, wherein said database includes data for describing electrical characteristics of a particular type of tissue or a particular body structure, data for describing mechanisms for spreading electrical signals and/or data for describing the effect on the electrical conductivity of the body structure or tissue of a substance, said computational unit being configured to retrieve and/or store said data in the database;
• and
• at least one input electrode operatively coupled to the computational unit, wherein said input electrode can detect electrical signals, and the computational unit assigns the detected electrical signals to one or more locations or areas of the body or body tissue using an electrical conductivity model of the body or body tissue.

A program embodied in a computer-readable medium for determining a location of electrical activity or hyperactivity of nerve cells in an anatomical structure of a body, comprising:

• code that generates an electrical conductivity model of the anatomical structure;
• code that detects electrical impulses via at least one input electrode;
• and
• code that uses the electrical conductivity model and the detected electrical impulses to determine a location or locations of the electrical activity in the anatomical structure.

A system for determining a location of electrical activity or hyperactivity of nerve cells in an anatomical structure of a body, comprising:

• a processor circuit having a processor and a memory;
• an electrical activity sub-system stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the electrical activity sub-system comprising:
• logic that generates an electrical conductivity model of the anatomical structure;
• logic that detects electrical impulses via at least one input electrode;
• and
• logic that uses the electrical conductivity model and the detected electrical impulses to determine a location or locations of the electrical activity in the anatomical structure.