Indicating electrode contact

Abstract

In one embodiment, a medical system, includes a catheter to be inserted into a chamber of a heart of a living subject, and including catheter electrodes configured to contact tissue at respective locations within the chamber of the heart, a display, and processing circuitry to receive signals from the catheter, and in response to the signals assess a respective quality of contact of each of the catheter electrodes with the tissue in the heart, and render to the display respective intracardiac electrograms traces representing electrical activity in the tissue that is sensed by the catheter electrodes at the respective locations, while modifying a visual feature of at least some of the traces responsively to the respective quality of contact of the catheter electrodes with the tissue of the heart at the respective locations.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A medical system, comprising:
 (a) a catheter, comprising:
 (i) a shaft terminating into a distal end, 
 (ii) at least one arm attached to the distal end of the shaft, the at least one arm being configured to be inserted into an anatomical feature of a living subject, and 
 (iii) at least one contact electrode attached to the at least one arm, the at least one contact electrode being configured to contact tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject; 
   (b) a display; and   (c) a processing module configured to receive signals from the at least one contact electrode, the processing module being configured to:
 (i) assess a quality of contact of each contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode with a respective tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject, 
 (ii) render to the display a respective visual feature of electrical activity signals for each contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode, and 
 (iii) modify the respective visual feature of the electrical activity signals in response to the respective contact electrode making direct contact with the tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject. 
   
     
     
         22 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the catheter further comprising a position sensor. 
     
     
         23 . The medical system of  claim 22 , the position sensor comprising a first shaft electrode associated with the shaft. 
     
     
         24 . The medical system of  claim 23 , the first shaft electrode being configured to estimate a position location of the first shaft electrode within the anatomical feature of the living subject. 
     
     
         25 . The medical system of  claim 24 , the catheter further comprising a second shaft electrode associated with the shaft. 
     
     
         26 . The medical system of  claim 25 , the first shaft electrode being located proximal relative to the second shaft electrode. 
     
     
         27 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the respective visual feature being modified by increasing a brightness of the respective visual feature. 
     
     
         28 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the respective visual feature being modified by changing a color of the respective visual feature. 
     
     
         29 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the assessment of quality of contact being expressed in terms of a measured electrical impedance by the respective contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode. 
     
     
         30 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the assessment of quality of contact being expressed in terms of a measured contact by the respective contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode. 
     
     
         31 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the assessment of quality of contact expressed in terms of an application of the signals from the at least one contact electrode. 
     
     
         32 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the processing module further configured to modify the respective visual feature of the electrical activity signals in response to the respective contact electrode losing direct contact with the tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject. 
     
     
         33 . The medical system of  claim 32 , the processing module further configured to apply a fading effect to the respective visual feature of the electrical activity signals in response to the respective contact electrode losing direct contact with the tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject. 
     
     
         34 . The medical system of  claim 21 , the at least one arm further comprising at least one resilient arm. 
     
     
         35 . The medical system of  claim 21 , further comprising a console, the processing module being located within the console. 
     
     
         36 . A medical system, comprising:
 (a) a catheter, comprising:
 (i) a shaft terminating into a distal end, 
 (ii) at least one arm attached to the distal end of the shaft, the at least one arm being configured to be inserted into an anatomical feature of a living subject, and 
 (iii) at least one contact electrode attached to the at least one arm, the at least one contact electrode being configured to contact tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject; 
   (b) a display; and   (c) a processing module configured to receive signals from the at least one contact electrode, the processing module being configured to:
 (i) assess a quality of contact of each contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode with a respective tissue located within the anatomical feature of the living subject to determine if the quality of contact is above or below a minimal quality contact, 
 (ii) render to the display a respective visual feature of electrical activity signals for each contact electrode of the at least one contact electrode, and 
 (iii) modify, via a fading effect, the respective visual feature of the electrical activity signals in response the respective quality of contact transitioning below the minimal quality of contact. 
   
     
     
         37 . The medical system of  claim 36 , the quality of contact being indicative of the respective contact electrode being in direct contact with the respective tissue. 
     
     
         38 . The medical system of  claim 36 , the at least one arm comprising a plurality of resilient arms. 
     
     
         39 . The medical system of  claim 38 , the at least one contact electrode comprising a plurality of electrodes associated with each resilient arm of the plurality of resilient arms. 
     
     
         40 . The medical method, comprising:
 (a) receiving respective signals from a plurality of contact electrodes configured to contact tissue at respective locations within an anatomical structure of a patient;   (b) in response to the signals, assessing a respective quality of contact of each of the contact electrodes to determine if the respective quality of contact is above or below a predetermined minimum quality of contact;   (c) rendering to a display respective electrical activity received by each contact electrode of the plurality of contact electrodes;   (d) performing a first modification to the displayed electrical activity associated with the contact electrodes having a respective quality of contact above the predetermined minimum quality of contact; and   (e) performing a fading effect modification to the displayed respective electrical activity associated with the contact electrodes having a respective quality of contact transitioning from above to below the predetermined minimal quality of contact.