Representing the geometry of a heart chamber
View Patent ↗A method of representing the geometry of at least a portion of a human heart chamber includes positioning a catheter in a heart chamber. The position of the catheter in the heart chamber is determined. The catheter is re-positioned and the position is re-determined a plurality of times to determine the geometry of at least a portion of the heart chamber. A three-dimensional, anatomical representation of at least a portion of the heart chamber is then created.
1. A method of representing the geometry of at least a portion of a live human heart chamber, comprising:
a) positioning a catheter in the live heart chamber;
b) determining and recording the position of the catheter in the live heart chamber using an electromagnetic field source external to the heart chamber;
c) repeating steps (a) and (b) a plurality of times to determine the geometry of at least a portion of the live heart chamber; and
d) creating a three-dimensional, anatomical representation of at least a portion of the live heart chamber using the recorded positions of the catheter.
2. A method of representing the geometry of at least a portion of a live human heart chamber, comprising:
a) positioning a catheter in the live heart chamber;
b) determining and recording the position of the catheter in the live heart chamber;
c) repeating steps (a) and (b) a plurality of times to determine the geometry of at least a portion of the live heart chamber; and
d) creating a three-dimensional, anatomical representation of at least a portion of the live heart chamber using the recorded positions of the catheter, wherein the method further comprises measuring a plurality of electrical potentials using the catheter; and wherein the three-dimensional, anatomical representation includes a three dimensional electrical activity map.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of periodically updating the created representation based upon further acquired physiological data.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a two-dimensional view of the three-dimensional, anatomical representation on a computer display monitor.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising displaying the position of the catheter within the displayed view.
6. A method of representing the geometry of at least a portion of a live human heart chamber, comprising:
a) determining and recording a plurality of positions of a catheter in a live heart chamber using an electromagnetic field source external to the heart chamber;
b) determining a geometry of at least a portion of the live heart chamber from the plurality of determined positions;
c) creating a three-dimensional, anatomical representation of at least a portion of the live heart chamber using the recorded positions of the catheter; and
d) displaying a two-dimensional view of the three-dimensional, anatomical representation on a computer display monitor.
7. The method of claim 6 , comprising the step of periodically updating the created representation based upon further acquired physiological data.
8. The method of claim 6 , comprising displaying the position of the catheter superimposed on the displayed view of the three-dimensional representation.
9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising measuring a plurality of electrical potentials using the catheter; and wherein the three-dimensional, anatomical representation comprises a three-dimensional electrical activity map.
10. A method of representing the geometry of at least a portion of a live human heart chamber, comprising:
a) determining and recording a plurality of three dimensional positions of a catheter in a live heart chamber using an electromagnetic field source external to the heart chamber;
b) creating a three-dimensional geometric representation of at least a portion of the live heart chamber from the plurality of determined, recorded three dimensional catheter positions;
c) measuring the electrical activity of a portion of the live heart chamber; and
d) providing a two-dimensional view of the three-dimensional geometric representation, including a visualization of the electrical activity within the portion of the live heart chamber.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the geometric representation includes a wire grid.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the geometric representation includes a three-dimensional map.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the visualization of the electrical activity includes an iso-potential or isochrone line.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the visualization of the electrical activity includes a color scale.
15. The method of claim 10 , comprising superimposing a representation of a catheter on the provided view.