Controlled Constant Current Systems, Devices, Components and Methods for Navigating, Positioning, and/or Imaging a Medical Device Inside a Patient's Body

A system configured to navigate or position a catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside a patient's body, the system comprising:

• (a) a plurality of body surface electrodes, the body surface electrodes being configured for placement on or over a first portion of the patient's body surface;
• (b) a plurality of catheter electrodes mounted on or attached to the catheter, each catheter electrode having a predetermined location or position on or in the catheter;
• (c) at least one controlled constant current source configured to be operably connected to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes and to transmit controlled constant current signals therethrough into the patient's body;
• and
• (d) a data acquisition or recording device operably connected to at least one computing device and the catheter electrodes, and configured to acquire, or store or record, electrical signals corresponding to transmitted controlled constant current signals sensed by at least some of the plurality of catheter electrodes as sensed electrical signals, the data acquisition or recording device being further configured to relay the sensed electrical signals to the computing device as sensed electrical signal values, the at least one computing device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by at least one processor to permit navigation or positioning of the catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside the patient's body;
• wherein:
• (a) the at least one computing device is further configured to:
• (i) generate at least one three-dimensional model or matrix of a volume of a portion of the patient's body through or into which the catheter or portion thereof is to be navigated or positioned, the volume comprising a plurality of voxels, each voxel having a three-dimensional spatial coordinate within the volume;
• and (ii) for each voxel or selected ones of the voxels, generate expected electrical signal values corresponding to controlled constant current signals transmitted from the body surface electrodes to each voxel or selected ones of the voxels;
• (b) the controlled constant current source is further configured to deliver, over a given period of time, the controlled constant current signals to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes for transmission into at least portions of the volume;
• (c) the data acquisition or recording device and the at least one computing device are configured to acquire the sensed electrical signals from the plurality or selected ones of the catheter electrodes during the given period of time, or store or record, sensed electrical signal values corresponding to the sensed electrical signals, the sensed electrical signals corresponding to controlled constant current signals transmitted by the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes into at least portions of the volume during the given period of time, and (d) the at least one computing device is configured to, for at least a portion of the given period of time, determine, on the basis of the sensed electrical signal values and the expected electrical signal values corresponding thereto, at least one three-dimensional location of at least one of the catheter electrodes located within the patient's body and the at least portion of the volume during the given period of time.

A method of at least one of navigating and positioning a catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside a volume of a patient's body using:

• (a) a plurality of body surface electrodes, the body surface electrodes being configured for placement on or over a first portion of the patient's body surface;
• (b) a plurality of catheter electrodes mounted on or attached to the catheter, each catheter electrode having a predetermined location or position on or in the catheter;
• (c) at least one controlled constant current source configured to be operably connected to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes and to transmit controlled constant current signals therethrough and into the volume;
• and (d) a data acquisition or recording device operably connected to at least one computing device, the data acquisition or recording device being operably connected to the catheter electrodes and configured to acquire, or store or record, electrical signals corresponding to transmitted controlled constant current signals sensed by at least some of the plurality of catheter electrodes as sensed electrical signals, the data acquisition or recording device further being configured to relay the sensed electrical signals to the computing device as sensed electrical signal values, the at least one computing device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by at least one processor to permit navigation or positioning of the catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside the patient's body, the method comprising:
• positioning and operably coupling the plurality of body surface electrodes on or to the first portion of the patient's body surface;
• positioning the catheter or a portion thereof inside the patient's body and within at least a portion of the volume;
• delivering, over a given period of time, the controlled constant current signals to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes for transmission into at least portions of the volume;
• using the data acquisition or recording device and the at least one computing device, acquiring the sensed electrical signals from the plurality or selected ones of the catheter electrodes during the given period of time, and storing or recording sensed electrical signal values corresponding to the sensed electrical signals, the sensed electrical signals corresponding to controlled constant current signals transmitted by the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes into at least portions of the volume during the given period of time, and
• using the at least one computing device, and for at least a portion of the given period of time, determining, on the basis of the sensed electrical signal values and computing and solving optimization problems to determine three-dimensional locations corresponding to the sensed electrical signals and their respective catheter electrodes during the given period of time, at least one three-dimensional location of at least one of the catheter electrodes located within the patient's body and the at least portion of the volume during the given period of time.

A system configured to navigate or position a catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside a volume of a patient's body, the system comprising:

• (a) a plurality of body surface electrodes, the body surface electrodes being configured for placement on or over a first portion of the patient's body surface;
• (b) a plurality of catheter electrodes mounted on or attached to the catheter, each catheter electrode having a predetermined location or position on or in the catheter;
• (c) at least one controlled constant current source configured to be operably connected to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes and to transmit controlled constant current signals therethrough into the patient's body and the volume;
• and
• (d) a data acquisition or recording device operably connected to at least one computing device and the catheter electrodes, and configured to acquire, or store or record, electrical signals corresponding to transmitted controlled constant current signals sensed by at least some of the plurality of catheter electrodes as sensed electrical signals, the data acquisition or recording device being further configured to relay the sensed electrical signals to the computing device as sensed electrical signal values, the at least one computing device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by at least one processor to permit navigation or positioning of the catheter or other type of medical device, or a portion thereof, inside the patient's body;
• wherein:
• (a) the controlled constant current source is configured to deliver, over a given period of time, the controlled constant current signals to the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes for transmission into at least portions of the volume;
• (c) the data acquisition or recording device and the at least one computing device are configured to acquire the sensed electrical signals from the plurality or selected ones of the catheter electrodes during the given period of time, or store or record, sensed electrical signal values corresponding to the sensed electrical signals, the sensed electrical signals corresponding to controlled constant current signals transmitted by the plurality or selected ones of the body surface electrodes into at least portions of the volume during the given period of time, and (d) the at least one computing device is configured to, for at least a portion of the given period of time, determine, on the basis of the sensed electrical signal values and computing and solving optimization problems to determine three-dimensional locations corresponding to the sensed electrical signals and their respective catheter electrodes during the given period of time, at least one three-dimensional location of at least one of the catheter electrodes located within the patient's body and the at least portion of the volume during the given period of time.