Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge Heart, Inc.

Sirona Medical Technologies, Inc.

Michigan State University

Other

Spacelabs Healthcare

Precisis Us, Inc.

Richard J Cohen

Paul Albrecht

Ali Haghighi-Mood

Jeffrey M Arnold

Antonis A Armoundas

Derin A Sherman

George B Benedek

Ramakrishna Mukkamala

Kevin S Librett

Gustav K Von Schulthess

Paul Lander

Mark S Bowen

Michael L Broide

Ronald D Berger

Andrew B Feldman

Tatsuya Arai

Robert H Rubin

Harry Lee

Wolfgang Daum

Marzio Giglio

Allan Foreman

David Gordon

Jean Gotman

Stephen K Burns

David S Cannell

Jerome P Saul

Maya Barley

Daniel T Kaplan

Ming H Chen

Victoria H DeLeon

Jerome C Tu

Solange Akselrod

Kichang Lee

Jeffery M Arnold

Joseph M Smith

Marvin L Appel

Andrew James Cole

Paul E Grimshaw

J Thomas Bigger

Harvey Levin

Neil Judell

Various catheters are provided herein for recording, mapping, and/or ablating target tissue to reduce or eliminate unwanted electrical impulses. In one embodiment, a catheter can have a handle, an elongate body, and an end effector. The end effector has expanded and contracted configurations and can rotate about the elongate body. A plurality of electrodes can also be disposed on the end effector for recording, mapping, and/or ablating target tissue surrounding the catheter. The handle can guide the end effector through transitioning between the configurations and rotating about the elongate body.

Multi-modal catheter for improved electrical mapping and ablation

Improved mapping and ablation procedures and corresponding devices are provided. A variety of methods and apparatuses can be used for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias by identifying the location of an arrhythmia source and ablating that source. The methods and apparatuses can provide an improved means of electrical mapping of the heart to identify the location of the arrhythmia source and advancing an ablation electrode to that location so that it may be ablated.

Cardiac electrical mapping and ablation

Various catheters with expandable and contractible fluid pathways extending therethrough, and methods of use, are provided herein. In an exemplary embodiment, a catheter is provided with an elongate body having an electrode at the distal end thereof. One or more expandable members or wings can extend between the electrode and the distal end of the elongate body. The catheter can also include an actuator extending therethrough and coupled to the electrode such that movement of the actuator is effective to advance and retract the electrode, thereby moving the one or more expandable members between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. The catheter can also include a fluid sealed lumen formed therein and configured to receive fluid and to deliver fluid to one or more pathways formed in the electrode. The actuator can extend through the fluid sealed lumen, however it can be fluidly separated from the lumen. The fluid sealed lumen can be configured to expand and collapse with movement of the electrode, while allowing movement of the actuator therethrough.

Catheter and method for improved irrigation

First cardiac signal data generated from measured heart beats of a subject is received. Characteristics of alternans occurring in the received first cardiac signal data are determined. Second cardiac signal data generated from measured heart beats of the subject after a change relating to an administration of a pharmacological agent is received. Characteristics of alternans occurring in the received second cardiac signal data are determined. The characteristics of alternans occurring in the received first cardiac signal data are compared with the characteristics of alternans occurring in the received second cardiac signal data.

Alternans and pharmacological agents

The systems and methods described herein enable reliable estimation of cardiovascular indices on real-time, non-invasive or minimally-invasive, and beat-to-beat basis. Cardiovascular indices which can be estimated include: stroke volume (SV), which being limited to, cardiac output (CO) and total peripheral resistance (TPR). In various embodiments, one or more of these indices are estimated continuously, on a beat-to-beat basis, using peripheral arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveforms and certain parameters derived from the peripheral ABP waveforms. The derived parameters are substantially insensitive to distortions of the ABP waveform arising from tapered arterial branches throughout the arterial tree. The methods describe herein can provide a more accurate and reliable estimate of hemodynamic parameters than existing techniques.

Method for estimating changes of cardiovascular indices using peripheal arterial blood pressure waveform

The present invention features a medical device and methods for the prevention and/or treatment of neurological disorders via electrical stimulation. These device are minimally or non-invasive and are capable of detection of a neurological disorder and its subsequent prevention or treatment. Specifically, seizure control is among the targeted therapeutic areas. Components of the device include control electronics and electrodes; the latter are targeting electrodes located entirely outside the skull and can be constructed from ring type structures or virtually connected disc type arrays. Other sub-systems included in the medical device are a control system, a battery unit, and wires connecting these and other sub-systems.

Treatment of neurological disorders via electrical stimulation, and methods related thereto

The present invention provides methods and apparatus for determining a dynamical property of the systemic or pulmonary arterial tree using long time scale information, i.e., information obtained from measurements over time scales greater than a single cardiac cycle. In one aspect, the invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring cardiac output (CO) from a single blood pressure signal measurement obtained at any site in the systemic or pulmonary arterial tree or from any related measurement including, for example, fingertip photoplethysmography. According to the method the time constant of the arterial tree, defined to be the product of the total peripheral resistance (TPR) and the nearly constant arterial compliance, is determined by analyzing the long time scale variations (greater than a single cardiac cycle) in any of these blood pressure signals. Then, according to Ohm's law, a value proportional to CO may be determined from the ratio of the blood pressure signal to the estimated time constant. The proportional CO values derived from this method may be calibrated to absolute CO, if desired, with a single, absolute measure of CO (e.g., thermodilution). The present invention may be applied to invasive radial arterial blood pressure or pulmonary arterial blood pressure signals which are routinely measured in intensive care units and surgical suites or to noninvasively measured peripheral arterial blood pressure signals or related noninvasively measured signals in order to facilitate the clinical monitoring of CO as well as TPR.

Methods and apparatus for determining cardiac output

Method and apparatus are provided for computing signals related to cardiac output from physiologic input signals related to circulatory pressures or flows. Method and apparatus are provided for constructing a transforming filter and applying said filter to the physiologic input signals in order to obtain a signal proportional to phasic cardiac output or time-averaged cardiac output. This invention provides a means for real-time monitoring of cardiac output and stroke volume which is of great clinical importance but not otherwise feasible by present techniques.

Methods and apparatus for visually representing a cardiac status of a patient

Method and apparatus for preventing heart rhythm disturbances by recording cardiac electrical activity, measuring beat-to-beat variability in the morphology of electrocardiographic waveforms, and using the measured beat-to-beat variability to control the delivery of electrical impulses to the heart during the absolute refractory period.

Method and apparatus for treatment of cardiac tachyarrhythmias

Method and apparatus are introduced for determining proportional cardiac output (CO), absolute left atrial pressure (LAP), and/or other important hemodynamic variables from a contour of a circulatory pressure waveform or related signal. Certain embodiments of the invention provided herein include the mathematical analysis of a pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) waveform or a right ventricular pressure (RVP) waveform in order to determine beat-to-beat or time-averaged proportional CO, proportional pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and/or LAP. The invention permits continuous and automatic monitoring of critical hemodynamic variables with a level of invasiveness suitable for routine clinical application. The invention may be utilized, for example, to continuously monitor critically ill patients with pulmonary artery catheters installed and chronically monitor heart failure patients instrumented with implanted devices for measuring RVP.

Methods and apparatus for determining cardiac output and left atrial pressure

Method and apparatus for guiding ablative therapy of abnormal biological electrical excitation. The excitation from the previous excitatory wave is significant at the beginning of the next excitation. In particular, it is designed for treatment of fast cardiac arrhythmias. Electrical signals are acquired from recording electrodes, and an inverse dipole method is used to identify the site of origin of an arrhythmia. The location of the tip of an ablation catheter is similarly localized from signals acquired from the recording electrodes while electrical pacing energy is delivered to the tip of the catheter close to or in contact with the cardiac tissue. The catheter tip is then guided to the site of origin of the arrhythmia, and ablative radio frequency energy is delivered to its tip to ablate the site.

Method and apparatus for the guided ablative therapy of fast ventricular arrhythmia

Growing community of inventors

Waban, MA, United States of America

Richard J Cohen