System and method for sorting electrophysiological signals from multi-dimensional catheters

Abstract

A plurality of electrophysiological signals measured by a respective plurality of electrodes carried by a multi-dimensional catheter can be sorted relative to a direction of interest, such as a cardiac activation wavefront direction. An electroanatomical mapping system can be used to determine the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest. For example, the user can manually adjust the orientation by manipulating a slider, a wheel, or a similar graphical user interface control. As another example, the user can draw a presumed orientation on a geometric model. Once the orientation is determined, the system can sort the plurality of electrophysiological signals and output a graphical representation of the sorted plurality of electrophysiological signals, for example as a plurality of traces.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of determining a sequence in which a cardiac activation wavefront passes through a plurality of electrodes carried by a multi-dimensional catheter, the method comprising:
 determining, via an electroanatomical mapping system, an orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to a direction of the cardiac activation wavefront; and   determining the sequence in which the cardiac activation wavefront passes through the plurality of electrodes using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of the cardiac activation wavefront.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining, via an electroanatomical mapping system, an orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to a direction of the cardiac activation wavefront comprises:
 displaying a plurality of traces corresponding to a plurality of electrophysiological signals respectively measured by the plurality of electrodes;   the electroanatomical mapping system generating a graphical user interface and receiving a user selection of a presumed orientation through the graphical user interface;   the electroanatomical mapping system re-sorting the displayed plurality of traces using the presumed orientation.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation adjustment wheel. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation adjustment slider. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein receiving a user selection of a presumed orientation through the graphical user interface comprises receiving a user's definition of a presumed conduction velocity vector through the graphical user interface. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining, via an electroanatomical mapping system, an orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to a direction of the cardiac activation wavefront comprises the electroanatomical mapping system determining the direction of the cardiac activation wavefront direction from a plurality of electrophysiological signals respectively measured by the plurality of electrodes. 
     
     
         7 . A method of sorting a plurality of electrophysiological signals measured by a respective plurality of electrodes carried by a multi-dimensional catheter, the method comprising:
 determining, via an electroanatomical mapping system, an orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to a direction of interest; and   sorting, via the electroanatomical mapping system, the plurality of electrophysiological signals using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising the electroanatomical mapping system outputting a graphical representation of the sorted plurality of electrophysiology signals. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein determining, via the electroanatomical mapping system, the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest comprises the electroanatomical mapping system generating a graphical user interface and receiving a user selection of the orientation through the graphical user interface. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation selection wheel. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation selection slider. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein sorting, via the electroanatomical mapping system, the plurality of electrophysiological signals using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest comprises:
 computing, via the electroanatomical mapping system, a rotation matrix using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest;   applying the rotation matrix, via the electroanatomical mapping system, to a respective plurality of positions of the plurality of electrodes; and   sorting the plurality of electrophysiological signals according to the respective plurality of positions of the plurality of electrodes after applying the rotation matrix thereto.   
     
     
         13 . An electroanatomical mapping system for sorting a plurality of electrophysiological signals measured by a respective plurality of electrodes carried by a multi-dimensional catheter, comprising:
 a sorting and visualization module configured to:
 determine, using information received by the electroanatomical mapping system, an orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to a direction of interest; and 
 sort the plurality of electrophysiological signals using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the definition of interest. 
   
     
     
         14 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 13 , further comprising a user interface module configured to receive as input a user selection of the orientation through a graphical user interface. 
     
     
         15 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 14 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation selection wheel. 
     
     
         16 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 14 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises an orientation selection slider. 
     
     
         17 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 14 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises a geometric model of a heart. 
     
     
         18 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 13 , wherein the sorting and visualization module is further configured to output a graphical representation of the sorted plurality of electrophysiology signals. 
     
     
         19 . The electroanatomical mapping system according to  claim 13 , wherein the sorting and visualization module is further configured to:
 compute, via the electroanatomical mapping system, a rotation matrix using the orientation of the multi-dimensional catheter relative to the direction of interest;   apply the rotation matrix, via the electroanatomical mapping system, to a respective plurality of positions of the plurality of electrodes; and   sort the plurality of electrophysiological signals according to the respective plurality of positions of the plurality of electrodes after applying the rotation matrix thereto.