PATENTS
Method For Simulating A Catheter Guidance System For Control Development And Training Applications
Patent Number: WO 2011/049813 Al
Date Filed: April 28, 2011
Country Filed In: WIPO
Product Application: CGCI
Description:
A system is disclosed for incorporating a realistic simulated catheter or catheters within a catheter guidance and control system that operate from the same closed-loop position control feedback and geometric mapping data as the real position control system and are able to make contact with real and simulated datasets. These catheters may be operated in a pure simulation mode without interacting with real catheters and position control hardware or may be used as control cursors to enhance the placement of catheter positioning targets. The catheter tip, which is the focus of magnetic control, is realistically guided by the control system parameters, while the remainder of the catheter line is realistically constrained by the mapped chamber geometry and introducer sheath.
Field of Use: The Catheter Guidance Control and Imaging (CGCI) system was created to provide physicians the ability to guide a catheter through a patient's body using a robotically-controlled magnetic guidance system. Such a system provides the physician unprecedented accuracy in being able to navigate within the dynamic environment of the patient, create a detailed 3-D mapping, and perform a variety of catheter-based operations with precision control and an ability to return to target at the push of a button. Initial applications for the technology were for the field of Electrophysiology and specifically for the ablation of the heart to treat patients with AFib.