Method and device for determining and presenting surface charge and dipole densities on cardiac walls
The invention discloses a method, a system, a computer program and a device for determining the surface charge and/or dipole densities on heart walls. Using the foregoing, a table of dipole densities ν(P′, t) and/or a table of surface charge densities ρ(P′, t) of a given heart chamber can be generated.
1. A method for generating a map of dipole densities across an endocardium of a heart chamber, the method comprising:
(i) using a probe system to record electric potentials at given positions P on a cellular membrane of an endocardial wall in a heart chamber to produce electric potential data;
(ii) using a special purpose computer to transform the electric potential data into a continuum of cellular membrane dipole density data;
(iii) using the special purpose computer to generate a map of the cellular membrane dipole densities at the given positions P as a 3-dimensional image, a 2-dimensional image, or time-dependent sequence of images, or a combination of one or more thereof; and
(iv) displaying the map on a display apparatus.
2. The method of claim 1 , including using non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
3. The method of claim 1 , including using contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
4. The method of claim 1 , including using a combination of contact mapping and non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recording in step (i) is performed using a plurality of electrodes that includes electrodes arranged in an ellipsoidal geometry.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recording in step (i) is performed using a plurality of electrodes that includes electrodes arranged in a spherical geometry.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming the electric potential data into cellular membrane dipole density in step (ii) employs a boundary element method (BEM).
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (ii) is performed using a processor executing a set of transformation instructions stored in a computer memory.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (iii) is performed using a processor executing a set of map generation instructions stored in a computer memory.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the map is a 2-dimensional image.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the map is a 3-dimensional image.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the map comprises a time-dependent sequence of images.
13. A method for generating a map of surface charge densities across an endocardium of a heart chamber, the method comprising:
(i) using a probe system, recording electric potentials at given positions P on a cellular membrane of an endocardial wall in a heart chamber to produce electric potential data;
(ii) using a special purpose computer, transforming the electric potential data into a continuum of cellular membrane surface charge density data;
(iii) using the special purpose computer, generating a map of the cellular membrane surface charge densities at the given positions P as a 3-dimensional image, a 2-dimensional image, or time-dependent sequence of images, or a combination of one or more thereof; and
(iv) displaying the map on a display apparatus.
14. The method of claim 13 , including using non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
15. The method of claim 13 , including using contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
16. The method of claim 13 , including using a combination of contact mapping and non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the recording in step (i) is performed using a plurality of electrodes that includes electrodes arranged in an ellipsoidal geometry.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the recording in step (i) is performed using a plurality of electrodes that includes electrodes arranged in a spherical geometry.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein transforming the electric potential data into cellular membrane dipole density in step (ii) employs a boundary element method (BEM).
20. The method of claim 13 , wherein step (ii) is performed using a processor executing a set of transformation instructions stored in a computer memory.
21. The method of claim 13 , wherein step (iii) is performed using a processor executing a set of map generation instructions stored in a computer memory.
22. The method of claim 13 , wherein the map is a 2-dimensional image.
23. The method of claim 13 , wherein the map is a 3-dimensional image.
24. The method of claim 13 , wherein the map comprises a time-dependent sequence of images.
25. A method of cardiac activation mapping, the method comprising:
(i) recording electric potentials at given positions P on a cellular membrane of an endocardial wall in a heart chamber to produce electric potential data using a plurality of electrodes;
(ii) transforming the electric potential data into a continuum of cellular membrane density data, by a processor executing a set of transformation instructions stored in a computer memory;
(iii) generating a map of the cellular membrane densities at the given positions P as a 3-dimensional image, a 2-dimensional image, or time-dependent sequence of images, or a combination of one or more thereof, by the processor executing a set of map generation instructions stored in the computer memory; and
(iv) outputting the map as a printout, computer display, or both;
wherein the densities includes dipole densities, surface charge densities, or both.
26. The method of claim 25 , including using non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
27. The method of claim 25 , including using contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
28. The method of claim 25 , including using a combination of contact mapping and non-contact mapping to determine the electric potential data.
29. The method of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of electrodes includes electrodes arranged in an ellipsoidal geometry.
30. The method of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of electrodes includes electrodes arranged in a spherical geometry.
31. The method of claim 25 , wherein transforming the electric potential data into cellular membrane dipole density in step (ii) employs a boundary element method (BEM).
32. The method of claim 25 , wherein the map is a 2-dimensional image.
33. The method of claim 25 , wherein the map is a 3-dimensional image.
34. The method of claim 25 , wherein the map comprises a time-dependent sequence of images.