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US 7,806,829 B2Granted
System and method for navigating an ultrasound catheter to image a beating heart
AssigneeSt. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.
InventorJohn A. Hauck
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Catheter navigation is coupled with ultrasound imaging to yield a context map showing the location on a heart of the ultrasonically imaged frame.
Claims16
A system for navigating an ultrasound catheter to image a beating heart, comprising:
- a) a catheter system carrying sensor electrodes and an ultrasonic transducer;
- b) an ultrasound system operatively coupled to said transducer to generate a sound wave and to sense an echo wave to yield and capture ultrasound data for a first frame of the interior surface of a heart;
- c) a navigation system operatively coupled to said electrodes for determining the location, in the context of a larger portion of the heart than is captured in the first frame, of the first frame;
- and
- d) an imaging system for simultaneously displaying an ultrasound image of the first frame and a three-dimensional context map of an interior heart geometry and simultaneously highlighting a first surface on the context map corresponding to the first frame and a second surface on the context map corresponding to a second frame of the interior surface of the heart for which ultrasound data was previously captured by the ultrasound system.
2 more elements
A system to generate images of the interior of a beating heart comprising:
- a) a catheter carrying multiple electrodes, said electrodes spaced from one another sufficiently to generate location and orientation data;
- b) an ultrasonic transducer attached to said catheter's distal end, for generating image data of a first portion of a surface within the heart;
- c) a signal processing system electrically coupled to said electrodes for receiving location and orientation data from said electrodes and coupled to said transducer for receiving the image data from said transducer;
- and
- d) an imaging system coupled to said signal processing system for displaying an image generated from the image data and for simultaneously displaying a three dimensional context map of an interior heart geometry and highlighting a first surface on the context map corresponding to said first surface portion of the heart displayed in the image and a second surface on the context map corresponding to a second surface portion of the heart for which a second image was previously generated by the ultrasound transducer within an image of a second heart portion that is larger than and contains said first and second surface portions,
- whereby the imaged portion of the surface of the heart is displayed and simultaneously the location in the heart of that displayed surface portion is displayed.
3 more elements
A method of imaging the interior of a beating heart, comprising the steps of:
- a) positioning a catheter in the interior of a heart chamber, said catheter carrying multiple electrodes spaced from one another sufficiently to generate location and orientation data and said catheter having an ultrasonic transducer coupled to its distal end;
- b) applying orthogonal current across the heart to generate voltage signals from the electrodes to yield position and orientation data;
- c) with the ultrasonic transducer, generating a wave and sensing its echo to generate a first ultrasonic image of a first portion of a surface of the interior of the heart;
- d) displaying the first ultrasonic image and simultaneously highlighting on a three-dimensional context map of an interior heart geometry a first surface on the context map corresponding to the frame of the heart surface that is displayed in the first ultrasonic image;
- e) repositioning the catheter, while the first surface of the context map remains highlighted, such that the catheter yields a second ultrasonic image of a second portion of the surface of the interior of the heart, said repositioning being accomplished by observing the three-dimensional context map;
- and,
- f) displaying the second ultrasonic image and simultaneously highlighting on the three-dimensional context map, while the first surface of the context map remains highlighted, a second surface on the context map corresponding to the frame of the heart surface that is displayed in the second ultrasonic image.
4 more elements
A system for navigating an ultrasound catheter to image a beating heart, comprising:
- a) a catheter system carrying sensor electrodes and an ultrasonic transducer;
- b) an ultrasound system operatively coupled to said transducer to generate a sound wave and to sense an echo wave to yield and capture ultrasound data for a first frame of the interior surface of a heart;
- c) an electroanatomical mapping system operatively coupled to said ultrasound system to generate a three-dimensional electroanatomical map of the interior of the heart;
- and
- d) an imaging system cooperatively coupled to the electroanatomical mapping system and the ultrasound system to display an ultrasound image of the first frame and the three-dimensional electroanatomical map of the interior of the heart and simultaneously highlight a first surface on the electroanatomical map corresponding to the location of the first frame and a second surface on the electroanatomical map corresponding to the location of a second frame of the interior surface of the heart for which ultrasound data was previously captured by the ultrasound system in addition to an ultrasound image of the first frame.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.