Method and system to assess whether electrical recordings during cardiac mapping lie on the myocardial surface

1. A method, for generating a cardiac map, comprising:

during cardiac mapping in which a mapping catheter is inserted into a heart, receiving a plurality of recordings from the mapping catheter, each recording comprising a voltage, and spatial coordinates of a recording site within the heart indicative of an electrode position of the mapping catheter at a time of acquisition of said voltage;

constructing a three-dimensional surface of the heart based on the spatial coordinates of each recording site, wherein the three-dimensional surface of the heart comprises an outer mesh surface and an inner mesh surface wherein the outer mesh surface is calculated using a first algorithm and the inner mesh surface is calculated using a second algorithm;

performing surface analysis of the constructed three-dimensional surface to determine off-surface points in the plurality of recordings wherein each off-surface point corresponds to a recording from the plurality of recordings which does not lie on the three-dimensional surface; and

selectively moving at least some of the off-surface points to the three-dimensional surface based on a predefined threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selective moving comprises moving a recording to the three-dimensional surface, when it is determined that a distance between the recording site associated with the recording and the three-dimensional surface is below the predefined threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein moving the recording to the three-dimensional surface comprises migrating said recording spatially to a point on the three-dimensional surface that is determined to be closest to said recording.

4. A method for real-time cardiac mapping, comprising:

while electrical recordings are being made by a mapping catheter, each at a recording location within a heart:

processing position information for each recording location to construct a three-dimensional surface that approximates the heart wherein the three-dimensional surface of the heart comprises an outer mesh surface and an inner mesh surface wherein the outer mesh surface is calculated using a first algorithm and the inner mesh surface is calculated using a second algorithm;

processing the electrical recordings comprising determining which of the recordings are off-surface points defined as being recorded at a recording location that is not on the constructed three-dimensional surface; and

for each off-surface point selectively transforming said off-surface point to an on-surface point so that it corresponds to a spatial location that is on the three-dimensional surface.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the off-surface point is transformed to an on-surface point when its recording location is within a predefined threshold distance to the three-dimensional surface.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the selective transformation is performed periodically.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the selective transformation is performed prior to completion of the construction of the three-dimensional surface.

8. A computing apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the apparatus to:

during cardiac mapping in which a mapping catheter is inserted into a heart, receiving a plurality of recordings from the mapping catheter, each recording comprising a voltage, and spatial coordinates of a recording site within the heart indicative of an electrode position of the mapping catheter at a time of acquisition of said voltage;

construct a three-dimensional surface of the heart based on the spatial coordinates of each recording site, wherein the three-dimensional surface of the heart comprises an outer mesh surface and an inner mesh surface wherein the outer mesh surface is calculated using a first algorithm and the inner mesh surface is calculated using a second algorithm;

perform surface analysis of the constructed three-dimensional surface to determine off-surface points in the plurality of recordings wherein each off-surface point corresponds to a recording from the plurality of recordings which does not lie on the three-dimensional surface; and

selectively move at least some of the off-surface points to the three-dimensional surface based on a predefined threshold.

9. The computing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the selective moving comprises moving a recording to the three-dimensional surface, when it is determined that a distance between the recording site associated with the recording and the three-dimensional surface is below the predefined threshold.

10. The computing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein moving the recording to the three-dimensional surface comprises migrate said recording spatially to a point on the three-dimensional surface that is determined to be closest to said recording.

11. A computing apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the apparatus to:

while electrical recordings are being made by a mapping catheter, each at a recording location within a heart:

process position information for each recording location to construct a three-dimensional surface that approximates the heart, wherein the three-dimensional surface of the heart comprises an outer mesh surface and an inner mesh surface wherein the outer mesh surface is calculated using a first algorithm and the inner mesh surface is calculated using a second algorithm;

process the electrical recordings comprising determining which of the recordings are off-surface points defined as being recorded at a recording location that is not on the constructed three-dimensional surface; and

for each off-surface point selectively transform said off-surface point to an on-surface point so that it corresponds to a spatial location that is on the three-dimensional surface.

12. The computing apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the off-surface point is transformed to an on-surface point if when its recording location is within a predefined threshold distance to the three-dimensional surface.

13. The computing apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the selective transformation is performed periodically.