Method for analysis of complex rhythm disorders

1. A method of analyzing a complex rhythm disorder in a heart of a human, the method comprising:

accessing signals from a plurality of sensors disposed spatially in relation to the heart, the signals associated with activations of the heart, the signals being one or more of electrical, acoustic, electromagnetic, magnetic, microwave, and combinations thereof; and

identifying a region of the heart having an activation trail that is rotational or radially emanating, the activation trail indicative of the complex rhythm disorder and based on activation times associated with the activations of the heart.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signals are stored in a computer-accessible memory.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder comprises one of atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder is atrial fibrillation and the activation trail is indicative of the atrial fibrillation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activation trail comprises a rotor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the region of the heart comprises arranging the activation times of the signals to identify the activation trail of the region.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the activation times are arranged in a sequence based on one or more of timing of the activation times, timing related to shapes of the signals, spatial relationship of sensors related to the signals, and phase of the signals.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

analyzing the signals of one or more of the sensors; and

approximating the activation trail of the region based on the analyzing.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein analyzing the signals comprises analyzing one or more of rate, regularity, amplitude, duration, and location.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises using the sensors to sense the signals concurrently in time or stepwise in time.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises identifying a core region around which the activation trail rotates or from which the activation trail radially emanates, wherein the region comprises the core region.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the core region to facilitate modification of the portion of the core region for elimination of the activation trail.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises selecting at least a portion of an area adjacent the core region to facilitate modification of the at least a portion of the area adjacent the core region for isolation or migration of the activation trail.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises displaying a representation of the core region.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activation trail is repeating.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises comparing the activation trail with a reference activation trail to facilitate modification of the activation trail based upon the comparison.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises generating a representation of the activation trail.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises displaying the representation of the activation trail.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein displaying the representation of the activation trail comprises displaying an activation trail of the activation times.

20. A method of analyzing a complex rhythm disorder in a heart of a human, the method comprising:

accessing signals from a plurality of sensors disposed spatially in relation to the heart, the signals associated with activations of the heart; and

identifying a region of the heart having an activation trail comprising activations that revolve around or radially emanate from a core region, wherein the region comprises the core region, a portion of which is interior to the activation trail, and wherein the core region is indicative of the complex rhythm disorder.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the region based at least on the activation trail to facilitate modification of the portion of the region for elimination of the activation trail.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the region adjacent the activation trail to facilitate modification of the portion of the region for isolation or migration of the activation trail.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the core region to facilitate modification of the at least a portion of the core region for elimination of the activation trail.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein the activation trail comprises a rotor.

25. The method of claim 20 , wherein the signals are stored in a computer-accessible memory.

26. The method of claim 20 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder comprises one of atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.

27. The method of claim 20 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder is atrial fibrillation and the activation trail is indicative of atrial fibrillation.

28. The method of claim 20 , wherein identifying the region of the heart comprises arranging activation times of the activations associated with the signals to identify the activation trail of the region.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the activation times are arranged in a sequence based on one or more of: timing of the activation times, timing related to shapes of the signals, spatial relationship of sensors related to the signals, and phase of the signals.

30. The method of claim 28 , further comprising:

analyzing the signals of one or more of the sensors; and

approximating the activation trail of the region based on the analyzing.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein analyzing the signals comprises analyzing one or more of rate, regularity, amplitude, duration, and location.

32. The method of claim 28 , wherein the method further comprises using the sensors to sense the signals concurrently in time or stepwise in time.

33. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises identifying a core region around which the activation trail revolves or from which the activation trail radially emanates.

34. The method of claim 33 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the core region to facilitate modification of the portion of the core region for elimination of the activation trail.

35. The method of claim 33 , wherein the method further comprises selecting at least a portion of an area adjacent the core region to facilitate modification of the at least a portion of the area adjacent the core region for isolation or migration of the activation trail.

36. The method of claim 33 , wherein the method further comprises displaying a representation of the core region.

37. The method of claim 20 , wherein the activation trail is repeating.

38. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises comparing the activation trail with a reference activation trail to facilitate modification of the activation trail based upon the comparison.

39. The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises generating a representation of the activation trail.

40. The method of claim 39 , wherein the method further comprises displaying the representation of the activation trail.

41. The method of claim 40 , wherein displaying the representation of the activation trail comprises displaying an activation trail of the activations.

42. A method of analyzing a complex rhythm disorder in a heart of a human, the method comprising:

accessing information representative of activations of the heart while the heart experiences the complex rhythm disorder, the information being one or more of electrical, acoustic, electromagnetic, magnetic, microwave, and combinations thereof; and

processing the information to identify a region of the heart having an activation pattern that is rotational or radially emanating, the activation pattern indicative of the complex rhythm disorder and based on activation times associated with the activations of the heart.

43. The method of claim 42 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the region based at least on the activation pattern to facilitate modification of the portion of the region for elimination of the activation trail.

44. The method of claim 42 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the region adjacent the activation pattern to facilitate modification to facilitate of the portion of the region for isolation or migration of the activation trail.

45. The method of claim 42 , wherein the activation pattern comprises a rotor.

46. The method of claim 42 , wherein the information representative of activations is stored in a computer-accessible memory.

47. The method of claim 42 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder comprises one of atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.

48. The method of claim 42 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder is atrial fibrillation and the activation pattern is indicative of atrial fibrillation.

49. The method of claim 42 , wherein processing the information to identify the region of the heart comprises arranging the activation times associated with the activations to identify the activation pattern of the region.

50. The method of claim 49 , wherein the activation times are arranged in a sequence based on one or more of: timing of the activation times, timing related to shapes of the information, spatial relationship of sensors related to the information, and phase of the information.

51. The method of claim 50 , further comprising:

analyzing the information of one or more of the sensors; and

approximating the activation pattern of the region based on the analyzing.

52. The method of claim 51 , wherein analyzing the information comprises analyzing one or more of rate, regularity, amplitude, duration, and location.

53. The method of claim 49 , wherein the method further comprises using sensors to sense the information concurrently in time or stepwise in time.

54. The method of claim 42 , wherein the method further comprises identifying a core region around which the activation pattern rotates or from which the activation trail radially emanates.

55. The method of claim 54 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the core region to facilitate modification of the portion of the core region for elimination of the activation pattern.

56. The method of claim 54 , wherein the method further comprises selecting at least a portion of an area adjacent the core region to facilitate modification of the at least a portion of the area adjacent the core region for isolation or migration of the activation pattern.

57. The method of claim 54 , wherein the method further comprises displaying a representation of the core region.

58. The method of claim 42 , wherein the activation pattern is repeating.

59. The method of claim 42 , wherein the method further comprises comparing the activation pattern with a reference activation pattern to facilitate modification of the activation pattern based upon the comparison.

60. The method of claim 42 , wherein the method further comprises generating a representation of the activation pattern.

61. The method of claim 60 , wherein the method further comprises displaying the representation of the activation pattern.

62. The method of claim 60 , wherein displaying the representation of the activation trail comprises displaying an activation pattern of the activation times.

63. A method of analyzing a complex rhythm disorder in a heart of a human, the method comprising:

accessing information representative of activations of the heart while the heart experiences the complex rhythm disorder; and

identifying a region of the heart having activations that revolve around or radially emanate from a core region, a portion of which is interior to the activation trail, wherein the region comprises the core region, and wherein a pattern of the activations is indicative of the complex rhythm disorder.

64. The method of claim 63 , wherein the pattern of the activations comprises a rotor.

65. The method of claim 63 , wherein the information representative of activations is stored in a computer-accessible memory.

66. The method of claim 65 , wherein the pattern of activations is repeating.

67. The method of claim 63 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder comprises one of atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.

68. The method of claim 63 , wherein the complex rhythm disorder is atrial fibrillation and the pattern of the activations is indicative of atrial fibrillation.

69. The method of claim 63 , wherein identifying the region of the heart comprises arranging activation times associated with the activations to identify the pattern of the activations.

70. The method of claim 69 , wherein the activation times are arranged in a sequence based on one or more of: timing of the activation times, timing related to shapes of the information, spatial relationship of sensors related to the information, and phase of the information.

71. The method of claim 70 , further comprising:

analyzing the information of one or more of the sensors; and

approximating the pattern of activations based on the analyzing.

72. The method of claim 71 , wherein analyzing the information comprises analyzing one or more of rate, regularity, amplitude, duration, and location.

73. The method of claim 69 , wherein the method further comprises using sensors to sense the information concurrently in time or stepwise in time.

74. The method of claim 63 , wherein the method further comprises identifying a core region around which the pattern of activations rotates or from which the activation pattern radially emanates.

75. The method of claim 74 , wherein the method further comprises displaying a representation of the core region.

76. The method of claim 74 , wherein the method further comprises selecting a portion of the core region to facilitate modification of the portion of the core region for elimination of the pattern of activations.

77. The method of claim 74 , wherein the method further comprises selecting at least a portion of an area adjacent the core region to facilitate modification of the at least a portion of the area adjacent the core region for isolation or migration of the activation pattern.

78. The method of claim 63 , wherein the method further comprises comparing the pattern of activations with a reference pattern of activations to facilitate modification of the activation pattern based upon the comparison.

79. The method of claim 63 , wherein the method further comprises generating a representation of the pattern of activations.

80. The method of claim 79 , wherein the method further comprises displaying the representation of the pattern of activations.

81. The method of claim 80 , wherein displaying the representation of the pattern of activations comprises displaying a pattern of activation times associated with the activations.