ABLATION SYSTEM, METHODS, AND CONTROLLERS
In a multi-electrode ablation system, method, and controller, a power supply is configured to be coupled to a plurality of electrodes, and a controller is coupled to the power supply. The controller is configured to couple an output voltage of the power supply to the plurality of electrodes, and for each electrode of the plurality of electrodes, measure a temperature associated with the electrode, and determine a thermal gain of each electrode of the plurality of electrodes.
1 . A multi-electrode ablation system comprising:
a power supply configured to be coupled to a plurality of electrodes; and
a controller coupled to the power supply, the controller configured to:
couple an output voltage of the power supply to the plurality of electrodes;
for each electrode of the plurality of electrodes, measure a temperature associated with said electrode; and
determine a thermal gain of each electrode of the plurality of electrodes.
2 . The system set forth in claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to generate a notification for each electrode corresponding to the determined thermal gain for said electrode.
3 . The system set forth in claim 2 wherein the notification is a visual notification.
4 . The system set forth in claim 1 further comprising a display device, and wherein the visual notification is display of the determined thermal gain of each electrode on the display device.
5 . The system set forth in claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to compare the determined thermal gain of each electrode to a threshold thermal gain.
6 . The system set forth in claim 5 wherein the controller is configured to disable each electrode of the plurality of electrodes for which the determined thermal gain exceeds the threshold thermal gain.
7 . The system set forth in claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to continuously determine the thermal gain of each electrode and calculate a rate of change of the thermal gain for each electrode.
8 . The system set forth in claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to disable each electrode for which the calculated rate of change of the thermal gain exceeds a rate of change threshold.
9 . A method of operating a multi-electrode ablation system having a plurality of electrodes and a power supply configured to be coupled to the plurality of electrodes, the method comprising:
coupling an output voltage of the power supply to the plurality of electrodes;
for each electrode of the plurality of electrodes, measuring a temperature associated with said electrode; and
determining a thermal gain of each electrode of the plurality of electrodes.
10 . The method set forth in claim 9 further comprising generating a notification for each electrode corresponding to the determined thermal gain for said electrode.
11 . The method set forth in claim 9 wherein generating a notification comprises generating a visual notification.
12 . The method set forth in claim 9 further comprising comparing the determined thermal gain of each electrode to a threshold thermal gain.
13 . The method set forth in claim 12 further comprising disabling each electrode of the plurality of electrodes for which the determined thermal gain exceeds the threshold thermal gain.
14 . The method set forth in claim 9 wherein the plurality of electrodes are coupled to the power supply by a common return path, and wherein the method further comprises determining a therapeutic resistance associate with each electrode of the plurality of electrodes and a resistance of the common return path.
15 . The method set forth in claim 14 further comprising determining the power applied to the therapeutic resistance associated with each electrode and determine the thermal gain of each electrode as a function of the power dissipated in the therapeutic resistance associate with said electrode and the measured temperature associated with said electrode.
16 . The method set forth in claim 9 wherein determining a thermal gain comprises continuously determining the thermal gain of each electrode and calculating a rate of change of the thermal gain for each electrode.
17 . A method of sampling a periodic, time invariant signal having a known frequency, the method comprising:
sampling the signal at a substantially fixed frequency during a first plurality of periods of the signal to collect a plurality of samples of the signal, wherein each sample includes a phase of the signal and an amplitude of the signal, wherein the substantially fixed frequency is selected to collect one or more samples during each period of the signal at a different phase of the signal than samples collected during an immediately prior period of the signal;
combining the plurality of samples collected over the first plurality of periods of the signal as a function of the phase of the signal to produce a representation of a single period of the signal.
18 . The method set forth in claim 17 wherein a first collected sample from during the first plurality of periods has a first phase, and wherein combining the plurality of samples collected over the first plurality of periods of the signal comprises combining the plurality of samples collected over a plurality of periods of the signal that ends with a period prior to a second plurality of periods in which the phase of the signal in a first collected sample of the second plurality of periods substantially equals the first phase in the first collected sample of the first plurality of periods.
19 . A controller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory device, the memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
sample a periodic, time invariant signal at a substantially fixed frequency during a first plurality of periods of the signal to collect a plurality of samples of the signal, wherein each sample includes a phase of the signal and an amplitude of the signal, wherein the substantially fixed frequency is selected to collect one or more samples during each period of the signal at a different phase of the signal than samples collected during an immediately prior period of the signal;
combine the plurality of samples collected over the first plurality of periods of the signal as a function of the phase of the signal to produce a representation of a single period of the signal.
20 . The controller set forth in claim 19 wherein the memory device includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to combining the plurality of samples collected over the first plurality of periods of the signal by combining the plurality of samples collected over a plurality of periods of the signal that ends with a period prior to a second plurality of periods in which the phase of the signal in a first collected sample of the second plurality of periods substantially equals a first phase of the signal in a first collected sample of the first plurality of periods.