Methods for simultaneous cardiac substrate mapping using spatial correlation maps between neighboring unipolar electrograms

1. A method of treating arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue, comprising:

recording a base cardiac electrogram signal at a base electrode for a predetermined amount of time;

recording a plurality of cardiac electrogram signals at a plurality of electrodes other than the base electrode for the predetermined amount of time;

comparing the base cardiac electrogram signal with each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals;

determining an average correlation coefficient associated with the base cardiac electrogram signal and each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals;

mapping a specific area of cardiac tissue where the base electrode is positioned based at least in part on the determined average correlation coefficient;

analyzing the average correlation coefficient to determine whether the average correlation coefficient has a low value;

identifying the specific area of cardiac tissue as arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue when the average correlation coefficient has a low value;

providing a medical device including an ablation element;

identifying a closed boundary between the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue and surrounding cardiac tissue based at least in part on the average correlation coefficient;

placing the medical device in contact with the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue; and

activating the ablation element and ablating substantially all of the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue within the boundary.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the average correlation coefficient is determined using a plurality of correlation coefficients.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of correlation coefficients is a Pearson correlation coefficient, and wherein each of the plurality of correlation coefficients is computed using the formula:

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wherein X represents a sample value of the base cardiac electrogram signal at a time, Y represents a sample value of one of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals at the time, and n is a number of sample values obtained from the base cardiac electrogram signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base electrode is included on the medical device, the method further comprising providing a reference electrode a distance from the medical device and transmitting energy from the base electrode to the reference electrode.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying an image corresponding to the specific area of cardiac tissue, wherein the image includes a visual representation of an average of the determined similarities between the base cardiac electrogram signal and each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recording of the base cardiac electrogram signal and the recording of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals occur substantially simultaneously.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined distance is between one millimeter and twenty millimeters.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring a cycle length of an arrhythmia in a patient having atrial fibrillation,

the predetermined amount of time being substantially equal to the cycle length of the arrhythmia.

9. A medical system, comprising:

a medical device including a base electrode and a plurality of electrodes; and

a control unit in communication with the base electrode and the plurality of electrodes, the control unit operable to:

record a base cardiac electrogram signal at a base electrode for a predetermined amount of time;

record a plurality of cardiac electrogram signals at a plurality of electrodes other than the base electrode for the predetermined amount of time;

compare the base cardiac electrogram signal with each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals;

determine an average correlation coefficient associated with the base cardiac electrogram signal and each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals;

map a specific area of cardiac tissue where the base electrode is positioned based at least in part on the determined average correlation coefficient;

analyze the average correlation coefficient to determine whether the average correlation coefficient has a low value;

identify the specific area of cardiac tissue as arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue when the average correlation coefficient has a low value;

identify a closed boundary between the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue and surrounding cardiac tissue based at least in part on the average correlation coefficient;

place the medical device in contact with the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue; and

activate the plurality of electrodes and ablating substantially all of the arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue within the boundary.

10. The medical system of claim 9 , further comprising a display, the control unit being further operable to display an image corresponding to the specific area of cardiac tissue on the display, wherein the image includes a visual representation of an average of the determined average correlation coefficients between the base cardiac electrogram signal and each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals.

11. The medical system of claim 9 , wherein the control unit is further operable to:

determine whether the mapping of the specific area of cardiac tissue is similar to a mapping of a neighbor area of cardiac tissue; and

if it is determined that the mapping of the specific area of cardiac tissue is not similar to the mapping of the neighbor area of cardiac tissue, then determining that one of the specific area of cardiac tissue and the neighbor area of cardiac tissue includes one of damaged and arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue.

12. The medical system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of electrodes has a neighbor electrode positioned at a neighbor area of cardiac tissue, the control unit being further operable to:

record a neighbor cardiac electrogram signal at the neighbor electrode for the predetermined amount of time;

compare the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal with the base cardiac electrogram signal;

compare the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal with each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals other than the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal;

determine similarities between:

the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal and the base cardiac electrogram signal; and

the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal and each of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals other than the neighbor cardiac electrogram signal; and

map the neighbor area of cardiac tissue based at least in part on the determined similarities.

13. The medical system of claim 12 , wherein the control unit is further operable to:

determine a plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients, wherein each of the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients corresponds to the neighbor electrogram signal and one of a different one of the plurality of cardiac electrogram signals and the base cardiac electrogram signal;

average the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients; and

associate an average of the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients to the neighbor area of cardiac tissue where the neighbor electrode is positioned.

14. The medical system of claim 13 , further comprising a display, the control unit being further operable to:

display an image on the display, the image being associated with the specific area of cardiac tissue and the neighbor area of cardiac tissue, wherein the image includes a visual representation of:

an average of the plurality of correlation coefficients; and

an average of the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients.

15. The medical system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit is further operable to:

determine whether the average of the plurality of correlation coefficients is different than the average of the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients; and

if it is determined that the average of the plurality of correlation coefficients is different than the average of the plurality of neighbor correlation coefficients, then determining that one of the specific area of cardiac tissue and the neighbor area of cardiac tissue includes one of damaged and arrhythmogenic cardiac tissue.