Automated graphical presentation of electrophysiological parameters

Abstract

A medical apparatus includes a probe configured for insertion into a body of a patient. The probe includes electrodes configured to contact tissue of a region within the body. The apparatus further includes a display screen, a position-tracking system configured to acquire position coordinates of the electrodes within the body, and a processor. The processor is configured to acquire electrophysiological signals from the electrodes while they are held stationary in the region, extract electrophysiological parameters from the signals, compute a measure of consistency of the parameters, and render to the display screen a three-dimensional (3D) map of the tissue while superimposing on the map, responsively to the position coordinates, a visual indication of the extracted parameters at the locations for which the measure of consistency satisfied a consistency criterion, and automatically discarding from the map the parameters for which the measure of consistency did not satisfy the consistency criterion.

1 . A medical apparatus, comprising:
 a display screen;   a position-tracking system configured to acquire respective locations of one or more electrodes on a probe inserted into a heart of a patient; and   one or more processors configured to: 
 acquire respective electrophysiological signals received from the one or more electrodes over a preset number of consecutive heartbeats; 
 extract respective electrophysiological parameters from the electrophysiological signals; 
 compute a variation of the respective electrophysiological parameters; 
 output to the display screen a three-dimensional (3D) map of the heart; and 
 superimpose on the map a visual indication of the extracted electrophysiological parameters at the respective locations for which the variation is less than a predetermined threshold. 
   
     
     
         2 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more processors are further configured to:
 automatically discard the electrophysiological parameters in the preset number of consecutive heartbeats for which the variation is greater than a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         3 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the respective electrophysiological parameters comprise a local-activation-time in the heart of the patient. 
     
     
         4 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the variation comprises a variation of the local-activation-time. 
     
     
         5 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the variation comprises a peak-to-peak variation of the local-activation-time at any given location. 
     
     
         6 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the respective electrophysiological parameters comprise an electrophysiological voltage. 
     
     
         7 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein the variation comprises a peak-to-peak variation of the electrophysiological voltage at any given location. 
     
     
         8 . The medical apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the 3D map is rendered in a background color, and the visual indication comprises other colors superimposed on the background color at the respective locations to indicate a value of the extracted electrophysiological parameters. 
     
     
         9 . A method for electrophysiological mapping, the method comprising:
 acquiring respective locations of one or more electrodes in contact with tissue of a heart;   acquiring respective electrophysiological signals from the one or more electrodes over at least a preset number of consecutive heartbeats;   extracting respective electrophysiological parameters from the electrophysiological signals;   computing a variation of the respective electrophysiological parameters;   rendering a three-dimensional (3D) map of the tissue; and   superimposing on the map a visual indication of the extracted electrophysiological parameters at the respective locations for which the variation is less than a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 automatically discarding the electrophysiological parameters for which the variation is greater than a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein extracting electrophysiological parameters comprises extracting a local-activation-time in the heart. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein computing the variation comprises computing a variation of the local-activation-time. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein computing the variation comprises computing a peak-to-peak variation of the local-activation-time at any given location. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein extracting electrophysiological parameters comprises extracting an electrophysiological voltage in the heart, and computing the variation comprises computing a variation of the electrophysiological voltage. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein computing the variation comprises computing a peak-to-peak variation of the electrophysiological voltage at any given location. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein rendering the 3D map comprises rendering the 3D map in a background color, and superimposing the visual indication comprises superimposing other colors on the background color at the respective locations indicating respective values of the extracted electrophysiological parameters. 
     
     
         17 . A controller, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a memory storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: 
 acquire, over a preset number of consecutive heartbeats, respective electrophysiological signals received from one or more electrodes disposed on a probe inserted into a heart; 
 extract respective electrophysiological parameters from the electrophysiological signals; 
 compute a variation of the respective electrophysiological parameters; 
 output to a display screen a three-dimensional (3D) map of the heart; and 
 superimpose on the map a visual indication of the extracted electrophysiological parameters for which the variation is less than a predetermined threshold. 
   
     
     
         18 . The controller according to  claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause at least one of the one or more processors to:
 automatically discard the electrophysiological parameters in the preset number of consecutive heartbeats for which the variation is greater than a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         19 . The controller according to  claim 18 , wherein the respective electrophysiological parameters comprise a local-activation-time in the heart. 
     
     
         20 . The controller according to  claim 18 , wherein the respective electrophysiological parameters comprise an electrophysiological voltage.