Abstract:
Method and apparatus for treating conductive irregularities in the heart, particularly atrial fibrillation and accessory path arrythmias. An ablative catheter is positioned relative to an inter-atrial electrical pathway, or a vicinity of accessory paths such as the coronary sinus or fossa ovalis, and actuated to form a lesion that partially or completely blocks electrical conduction in at least one direction along the pathway. Method and apparatus for assessing lesion quality are also described.
Abstract:
Method and apparatus for treating conductive irregularities in the heart, particularly atrial fibrillation and accessory path arrythmias. An ablative catheter is positioned relative to an inter-atrial electrical pathway, or a vicinity of accessory paths such as the coronary sinus or fossa ovalis, and actuated to form a lesion that partially or completely blocks electrical conduction in at least one direction along the pathway.
Abstract:
A switch (14) that transfers a packet (264) includes a plurality of ports (28) and a switch control system (63) that is electrically connected to the ports (28) and that controls the flow of data through the switch (14). The packet (264) includes a destination vector (215) having one or more original destinations (268). The switch control system (63) receives the destination vector (215) and allows the destination vector (215) to be dynamically updated. For example, the control system (63) can allow the destination vector to be dynamically updated during the transmission of the packet to the one or more original destinations (268). The control system (63) can allow one or more added destinations (268B) to be added to the destination vector (215) and/or the control system (63) can allow one or more of the original destinations (268) to be removed from the destination vector (215) with minimal, if any, influence on performance.
Abstract:
Computer implemented methods and associated systems are disclosed for processing electrical signals recorded from the heart and, more particularly, for objectively deriving sub-components and comparing signals and their sub-components.
Abstract:
The present invention encompasses apparatus and methods for mapping electrical activity within the heart. The present invention also encompasses methods and apparatus for creating lesions in the heart tissue (ablating) to create a region of necrotic tissue which serves to disable the propagation of errant electrical impulses caused by an arrhythmia.
Abstract:
A packet processing integrated circuit chip includes a plurality of input ports configured to receive packets from respective external sources and a plurality of output ports configured to transmit packets to respective external recipients. The chip further includes a packet processor configured to process the received packets to generate new packets with new payloads according to selected ones of a plurality of packet processing scenarios based on destination addresses in the received packets. The plurality of packet processing scenarios may include individual packet processing scenarios and group packet processing scenarios that invoke parallel processing of a packet by selected ones of the individual packet processing scenarios. The chip may further include a packet switching fabric configured to route selected packets from the input ports to selected ones of the output ports without payload modification.
Abstract:
The present invention encompasses apparatus and methods for mapping electrical activity within the heart. The present invention also encompasses methods and apparatus for creating lesions in the heart tissue (ablating) to create a region of necrotic tissue which serves to disable the propagation of errant electrical impulses caused by an arrhythmia.
Abstract:
Embodiments of the invention relate to a catheter having an ultrasound energy emitting region that is both rotatable about and slidable along the shaft of the catheter. One embodiment is directed to a catheter comprising an ultrasound transducer coupled to the shaft, and at least one actuator coupled to the handle and the ultrasound transducer that is adapted to move the ultra-sound transducer both longitudinally along the shaft and circumferentially about the shaft. Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a catheter comprising an ultrasound transducer coupled to the shaft, and at least one actuator that is adapted to move the sheath both longitudinally along the shaft and circumferentially about the shaft to orient a window of the sheath in a desired position.
Abstract:
A device (212) that transfers data includes a destination (216), a first data source (216), a second data source (216), a connector (220), and a control system (214). The first data source (216) can have first data to send to the destination (216). The second data source (216) can have second data to send to the destination (216). The connector (220) electrically connects the data sources (216) to the destination (216). The device control system (214) is electrically connected to the sources (216) and the destination (216). The device control system (214) utilizes an arbitration progression that sequentially grants access to the connector (220) to only the data sources (216) that have data to send to the destination (216). The device control system (214) can evaluate a first data rate of the first data and a second data rate of the second data, and can grant access to the data sources (216) that have data to send to the destination (216). Further, the device control system (214) can utilize digital hysteresis to control the granting of access to the data sources (216) that have data to send to the destination (216). This can enhance the efficiency of the device (212) with minimal, if any, increase in size or complexity.
Abstract:
An apparatus for mapping and/or ablating tissue includes a braided conductive member that that may be inverted to provide a ring-shaped surface. When a distal tip of the braided conductive member is retracted within the braided conductive member, the lack of a protrusion allows the ring-shaped surface to contact a tissue wall such as a cardiac wall. In an alternative configuration, the braided conductive member may be configured with the distal portion forming a proboscis that can be used to stably position the braided conductive member relative to a blood vessel, such as a ventricular outflow tract. The braided conductive member has a plurality of electronically active sites that may be accessed individually for stable mapping over a broad area for stable mapping or ablation to form broad and deep lesions.