Systems, devices, components and methods for detecting the locations of sources of cardiac rhythm disorders in a patient's heart

1. A method of detecting a location of a source of at least one cardiac rhythm disorder in a patient's heart using a system comprising at least one computing device, the computing device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by at least one processor to determine the source and location of the cardiac rhythm disorder in the patient's heart, the system further comprising a monitor or screen operably connected to the computing device and a mapping electrode assembly, the method comprising:

(a) acquiring electrogram signals inside the patient's heart using electrodes mounted on the mapping electrode assembly;

(b) using the computing device, normalizing or adjusting the amplitudes of the electrogram signals acquired from the electrodes located inside the patient's heart;

(c) using the computing device, assigning positions or identifiers for each of the electrodes to corresponding individual electrogram signals;

(d) using the computing device, providing or generating a two-dimensional (2D) spatial map of the electrode positions;

(e) using the computing device, and for each or selected discrete times over which the electrogram signals are being processed, processing the amplitude-adjusted electrogram signals to generate a plurality of three-dimensional electrogram surfaces corresponding at least partially to the 2D map, one surface being generated for each such time, and

(f) using the computing device, processing the plurality of three-dimensional electrogram surfaces through time to generate and display on the monitor or screen a velocity vector map corresponding at least partially to the 2D map, the velocity vector map being configured to reveal the location of the source of the at least one cardiac rhythm disorder so that a user can diagnose or treat the patient.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising inserting a catheter inside the patient's body and heart, the catheter comprising at a distal end thereof the mapping electrode assembly.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising conditioning the electrogram signals in a data acquisition device operably connected to the electrodes.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein conditioning the electrogram signals further comprises one or more of amplifying the electrogram signals, notch filtering the electrogram signals, and bandpass, low-pass or high-pass filtering the electrogram signals.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating wave shapes when generating the electrogram surfaces.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the electrogram surfaces using Green's function.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the electrogram surfaces using a two-dimensional bi-harmonic spline interpolation function.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using arrows or colors in the vector map that are representative of directions of electrical potential propagation.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using arrows or colors having attributes representative of velocities of electrical potential propagation in the vector map.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising showing the at least one cardiac rhythm disorder as an active rotor at the location on the vector map.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising showing a location of a passive rotor on the vector map.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising showing a location of a focal point on the vector map.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising showing a location of a breakthrough point on the vector map.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the velocity vector map using at least one optical flow analysis technique.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one optical flow analysis technique is selected from the group consisting of a Horn-Schunck method, a Buxton-Buston method, a Black-Jepson method, a phase correlation method, a block-based method, a discrete optimization method, a Lucas-Kanade method, and a differential method of estimating optical flow.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing the plurality of electrogram signals to generate an averaged electrogram signal, and subtracting the averaged electrogram signal from each of the individual electrogram signals to generate artifact- or far-field adjusted individual electrogram signals.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing the artifact-adjusted individual electrogram signals with a high-pass filter to remove DC offsets.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the high-pass filter removes frequencies below between about 5 Hz and about 20 Hz.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising interpolating or estimating values for positions in between the measured or calculated map or grid values corresponding to one or more of the electrogram signals, the plurality of smoothed electrogram surfaces, and the velocity vector map.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a representative amplitude value for each individual electrogram signal, and storing the representative amplitude values for later use in image backgrounds that show low signal amplitude areas of the 2D representation, the low signal amplitude areas being indicative of one or more of valve artifacts, poor electrode contact, and fibrotic areas of the heart.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying the electrode positions in the 2D representation based upon navigational or positional data corresponding to measured or sensed actual electrode positions.

22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing the navigational or positional data from a medical navigation system, a computed tomography scanner, a magnetic resonance image scanner, or an X-ray fluoroscopy system.

23. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying one or more of the electrogram signals received from the data acquisition device, the normalized or amplitude-adjusted electrogram signals, the predetermined positions of the electrodes on the catheter, the 2D representation of the electrode positions, and the plurality of three-dimensional smoothed electrogram surface on the screen or monitor.

24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a force sensor located at a distal tip of the mapping electrode assembly to engage an interior wall of the patient's heart and indicate when the interior wall has been engaged by the force sensor.

25. A method of detecting a location of a source of at least one cardiac rhythm disorder in a patient's heart, comprising:

(a) normalizing or adjusting the amplitudes of electrogram signals acquired from electrodes located inside the patient's heart;

(b) assigning positions or identifiers for each of the electrodes to corresponding individual electrogram signals;

(c) providing or generating a two-dimensional (2D) spatial map of the electrode positions;

(d) for each or selected discrete times over which the electrogram signals are being processed, processing the amplitude-adjusted electrogram signals to generate a plurality of three-dimensional electrogram surfaces corresponding at least partially to the 2D map, one surface being generated for each such time;

(e) processing the plurality of three-dimensional electrogram surfaces through time to generate a velocity vector map corresponding at least partially to the 2D map, the velocity vector map being configured to reveal the location of the source of the at least one cardiac rhythm disorder, and

(f) ablating the patient's heart at the location of the source of the cardiac rhythm disorder indicated by the velocity vector map.