Universal pacing of a catheter

Abstract

A method is provided. The method includes pacing, by electrodes of a catheter, a heart tissue with pulses. The method includes observing, by the electrodes, a period of electrophysiological repolarization for the heart tissue. The period of electrophysiological repolarization is caused by the pacing. The method also includes measuring, by the electrodes, an electrical signal within the heart tissue after the period of electrophysiological repolarization.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 detecting, by a plurality of electrodes of a catheter, a period of electrophysiological repolarization for a heart tissue caused by a pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter with a plurality of pulses;   measuring, by the plurality of electrodes of the catheter, an activity pattern of returning electrical signals propagating from the heart tissue after the period of electrophysiological repolarization, wherein the pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter generates a region of the heart tissue where waves, other than the plurality of pulses, are prohibited from entering until after the period of electrophysiological repolarization to enable the measuring of the activity pattern.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 isolating and analyzing focal points of interest within the heart tissue based on the activity pattern of returning electrical signals.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measuring an electrical signal within the heart tissue after the period of electrophysiological repolarization and before the measuring of the activity pattern.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the period of electrophysiological repolarization provides a time window for measuring the returning electrical signals propagating from within or from outside a coverage of plurality of electrodes. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the plurality of electrodes of the catheter provides the pacing of the heart tissue by providing a corresponding pulse of the plurality of pulses. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter generates the region of the heart tissue where the plurality of pulses are a unified or near unified. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each pulse of the plurality of pulses are paced together and at a same time. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the period of electrophysiological repolarization comprises a time period when the heart tissue is in a refractory period. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of a number or a location of the plurality of pulses is varied to manipulate the period of electrophysiological repolarization. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the catheter comprises a mesh, balloon, or spoon catheter and the plurality of electrodes comprises at least forty electrodes. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus comprising:
 a catheter comprising a plurality of electrodes; and   a cardiac pacing and diagnosis device comprising a memory storing processor executable instructions of cardiac pacing and diagnosis software, and a processor configured to execute the processor executable instructions of the cardiac pacing and diagnosis software to cause the apparatus to:
 detect, by a plurality of electrodes of a catheter, a period of electrophysiological repolarization for a heart tissue caused by a pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter with a plurality of pulses; 
 measure, by the plurality of electrodes of the catheter, an activity pattern of returning electrical signals propagating from the heart tissue after the period of electrophysiological repolarization, wherein the pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter generates a region of the heart tissue where waves, other than the plurality of pulses, are prohibited from entering until after the period of electrophysiological repolarization to enable the measuring of the activity pattern. 
   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the processor configured to execute the processor executable instructions of the cardiac pacing and diagnosis software to cause the apparatus to:
 isolate and analyze focal points of interest within the heart tissue based on the activity pattern of returning electrical signals.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the processor configured to execute the processor executable instructions of the cardiac pacing and diagnosis software to cause the apparatus to:
 measure an electrical signal within the heart tissue after the period of electrophysiological repolarization and before the measuring of the activity pattern.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the period of electrophysiological repolarization provides a time window for measuring the returning electrical signals propagating from within or from outside a coverage of plurality of electrodes. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein each electrode of the plurality of electrodes of the catheter provides the pacing of the heart tissue by providing a corresponding pulse of the plurality of pulses. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the pacing of the heart tissue by the catheter generates the region of the heart tissue where the plurality of pulses are a unified or near unified. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein each pulse of the plurality of pulses are paced together and at a same time. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the period of electrophysiological repolarization comprises a time period when the heart tissue is in a refractory period. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein each of a number or a location of the plurality of pulses is varied to manipulate the period of electrophysiological repolarization. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the catheter comprises a mesh, balloon, or spoon catheter and the plurality of electrodes comprises at least forty electrodes.