System and method for electromechanical activation of arrhythmias

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting electromechanical wave propagation within a body structure of a patient in a series of image frames representing movement the body structure are provided. Image data is acquired comprising a series of image frames corresponding to the movement of a body structure. A correlation calculation is performed on the image frames to generate a displacement map representing the relative displacement between the first and second image frames. A video is generated comprising a series of displacement maps. The parameters of movement of the body structure are detected by analysis of the displacement maps. The image acquisition can detect the movement of the body structure without inducing such movement.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for mapping electromechanical activity during an arrhythmia, comprising:
 obtaining image information of a heart of a subject using an imaging device;   generating a strain map of the heart from the image information;   determining from the strain map occurrences of a first electromechanical event of the heart and a second electromechanical event;   generating a spatio-temporal map of atrial and ventricular mechanics of the heart by tracking the onset of the first and second event for each pixel of a heart wall of the subject identified from the image information; and   identifying, using the spatio-temporal map, a representative mechanical cycle associated with a contraction of the heart; and determining a type of cardiac arrhythmia present in the heart from the information collected in the ultrasound scan of the heart.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising determining that the cardiac arrhythmia present in the heart comprises focal rhythms, wherein generating the spatio-temporal map further comprises determining an onset of ventricular contraction by identifying a first zero-crossing of an incremental strains occurring after an onset of a P-wave on an electrocardiogram. 
     
     
         3 . A system for mapping electromechanical activity during an arrhythmia comprising:
 a processor adapted to:
 obtain image information of a heart of a subject using an imaging device; 
 generate a strain map of the heart from the image information; 
 determine, from the strain map occurrences of a first electromechanical event of the heart and a second electromechanical event; 
 generate a spatio-temporal map of atrial and ventricular mechanics of the heart by tracking the onset of the first and second event for each pixel of a heart wall of the subject; and 
 identify, using the spatio-temporal map, a representative mechanical cycle associated with a contraction of the heart; 
 wherein the processor is further configured to determine a type of cardiac arrhythmia present in the heart from the information collected in the ultrasound scan of the heart. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processor determines that the cardiac arrhythmia present in the heart comprises focal rhythms, and wherein the processor generates the spatio-temporal map by determining an onset of ventricular contraction by identifying a first zero-crossing of an incremental strains occurring after an onset of a P-wave on an electrocardiogram.