US5713946A — Apparatus and method for intrabody mapping

Claim 1

Independent Claim 116 words

A method for ablating a portion of an organ or bodily structure of a patient, which comprises the steps of: (a) advancing one or more catheters to sites adjacent to or within an organ or bodily structure, at least one of said catheters having ablation ability; (b) sensing the location of each catheter's distal tip using a non-ionizing field; (c) at the distal tip of one or more catheters sensing local information of the organ or structure; (d) processing the sensed information from steps (b) and (c) to create one or more data points; (e) transmitting said one or more data points to a receiving means; and (f) ablating a portion of the organ or structure.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 116 words

A method for ablating a portion of an organ or bodily structure of a patient, which comprises the steps of: (a) advancing one or more catheters to sites adjacent to or within an organ or bodily structure, at least one of said catheters having ablation ability; (b) sensing the location of each catheter's distal tip using a non-ionizing field; (c) at the distal tip of one or more catheters sensing local information of the organ or structure; (d) processing the sensed information from steps (b) and (c) to create one or more data points; (e) transmitting said one or more data points to a receiving means; and (f) ablating a portion of the organ or structure.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 1, wherein steps (c) and (d) are repeated a number of times sufficient to create a map to be transmitted in step (e).

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 1, wherein in step (e) said one or more data points are projected onto an imaging receiving means.

Claim 5

Independent Claim 106 words

A method for treating cardiac arrhythmias, which comprises the steps of: (a) advancing one or more reference catheters and one or more mapping/ablation catheters, all of which have distal tips, to sites within a patient's heart; (b) sensing the location of each catheter distal tip using a non-ionizing field; (c) at the distal tip of the mapping/ablation catheter sensing information concerning the heart's electrical activity; (d) processing the information sensed in steps (b) and (c) to create one or more data points; (e) transmitting said one or more data points to a receiving means; and (f) ablating a portion of the inner surface of the ventricle.

Claim 6

Independent Claim 106 words

A method for treating cardiac arrhythmias, which comprises the steps of: (a) advancing one or more reference catheters and one or more mapping/ablation catheters, all of which have distal tips, to sites within a patient's heart; (b) sensing the location of each catheter distal tip using a non-ionizing field; (c) at the distal tip of the mapping/ablation catheter sensing information concerning the heart's electrical activity; (d) processing the information sensed in steps (b) and (c) to create one or more data points; (e) transmitting said one or more data points to a receiving means; and (f) ablating a portion of the inner surface of the ventricle.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 4, wherein steps (c) and (d) are repeated a number of times sufficient to create a map to be projected in step (e).

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 4, wherein in step (e) said one or more data points are projected onto an image receiving means.

Claim 9

Independent Claim 54 words

A method of prognosing the likelihood of successful treatment of cardiac arrhythmia at a specific site in a patient's heart, said method comprising calculating the similarity of a patient's body electrogram morphology during arrhythmia to the patient's body surface electrogram during pacing in a plurality of sites on the endocardium of the patient's heart.

Claim 10

Independent Claim 54 words

A method of prognosing the likelihood of successful treatment of cardiac arrhythmia at a specific site in a patient's heart, said method comprising calculating the similarity of a patient's body electrogram morphology during arrhythmia to the patient's body surface electrogram during pacing in a plurality of sites on the endocardium of the patient's heart.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 12 words

The method of claim 7, wherein said method is a closed-heart method.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 52 words

The method of claim 7, wherein said calculating comprises the steps of: (a) determining the similarity of the patient's body surface electrogram morphology during arrhythmia to the body surface electrogram morphology during pacing from a plurality of sites, and (b) creating a map of corresponding similarity discriminant of said locations of endocardium.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 7, wherein said calculating is carried out by determining the correlation between an ECG of the patient during arrhythmia and pacing in a plurality of sites on the endocardium.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 88 words

A method for intrabody mapping, comprising the steps of: (a) inserting a probe into the body of a subject; (b) applying a non-ionizing electromagnetic field to the body, so that energy from the field impinges on the probe; (c) finding the position of the probe by sensing the field at the probe; (d) receiving a signal responsive to electrophysiological activity in the body at the probe; and (e) processing the signal together with the position found in step (c) to determine a localized characteristic of the electrophysiological activity.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 88 words

A method for intrabody mapping, comprising the steps of: (a) inserting a probe into the body of a subject; (b) applying a non-ionizing electromagnetic field to the body, so that energy from the field impinges on the probe; (c) finding the position of the probe by sensing the field at the probe; (d) receiving a signal responsive to electrophysiological activity in the body at the probe; and (e) processing the signal together with the position found in step (c) to determine a localized characteristic of the electrophysiological activity.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 22 words

A method according to claim 11, wherein sensing the field at the probe comprises receiving a field-responsive signal generated at the probe.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 37 words

A method according to claim 11 or 12, comprising the additional step: (f) repeating steps (c), (d), and (e) at a plurality of positions of the probe, so as to produce a map of the electrophysiological activity.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 20 words

A method according to claim 13, comprising the additional step: (g) ablating tissue in the body based on the map.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 27 words

A method according to claim 11 or 12, comprising the additional step: (f') ablating tissue in the body based on the localized characteristic of the electrophysiological activity.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 38 words

A method according to claim 11 or 12, comprising the additional steps: (f") obtaining a perspective image of a portion of the body; and (g") marking the localized characteristic on the image at the position of the probe.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 97 words

Apparatus for intrabody mapping, comprising: a probe, having a distal end which is inserted into the heart of a subject and positioned at each of a plurality of sites therein, the probe including one or more electrodes adjacent the distal end, for use in generating signals responsive to a local physiological characteristic; a position sensor, which generates position signals responsive to the position of the probe; and a signal processor, which receives and processes the position signals and the signals responsive to the physiological characteristic, to create sufficient data points for a map representative of the characteristic.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 97 words

Apparatus for intrabody mapping, comprising: a probe, having a distal end which is inserted into the heart of a subject and positioned at each of a plurality of sites therein, the probe including one or more electrodes adjacent the distal end, for use in generating signals responsive to a local physiological characteristic; a position sensor, which generates position signals responsive to the position of the probe; and a signal processor, which receives and processes the position signals and the signals responsive to the physiological characteristic, to create sufficient data points for a map representative of the characteristic.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 20 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the one or more electrodes comprise a sensor electrode, which senses a local electrogram.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 31 words

Apparatus according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the one or more electrodes comprise a pacing electrode, which paces the heart in the at least some of the plurality of sites.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 32 words

Apparatus according to claim 19, comprising one or more body surface electrodes, coupled to the signal processor, which electrodes receive ECG signals responsive to pacing of the heart by the pacing electrode.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 21 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, comprising one or more body surface electrodes, coupled to the signal processor, for receiving ECG signals.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 16 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the map is representative of electrical conduction in the heart.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 26 words

Apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the one or more electrodes comprise an ablation electrode, which ablates a portion of the heart indicated by the map.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 35 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the position sensor comprises at least one field generator, which generates a non-ionizing electromagnetic field, and at least one receiver, which produces the position signals responsive to the field.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 20 words

Apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the at least one field generator and the at least one receiver comprise antennas.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 31 words

Apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the at least one field generator is positioned outside the body of the subject, and the at least one receiver is fixed to the probe.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 31 words

Apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the at least one field generator is fixed to the probe, and the at least one receiver is positioned outside the body of the subject.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 16 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, comprising a display, which displays the map representative of the characteristic.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 35 words

Apparatus according to claim 17, comprising one or more reference catheters, which are placed at fixed positions in the heart so as to establish a frame of reference for determining the position of the probe.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-02-02	2001-08-04	2002-02-03	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-02-02	2005-08-04	2006-02-03	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-02-02	2009-08-04	2010-02-03	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Apparatus and method for intrabody mapping

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