Electroanatomic Mapping System Provides 3D Heart Renderings

An updated noninvasive three-dimensional (3D) system maps a wide range of irregular heart rhythms in the upper and lower chambers of the heart.

The CardioInsight system is a noninvasive technology that creates 3D electroanatomic maps of the heart by collecting electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from the chest via a proprietary 252-electrode sensor vest that contours itself to the patient's body, pairing body surface electrical data input with heart-torso anatomy. The vest allows for continuous and simultaneous panoramic mapping of both atria or of both ventricles, which cannot be achieved with current invasive methods. The vest sends the collected data to the CardioInsight workstation, which combines the ECG signals with CT scan data.

The system provides simultaneous, multi-chamber, 3D maps of the heart's electrical activity, including unipolar electrograms at 6.8 ± 2 mm epicardial resolution. A further advantage of the system is that the cardiac maps can be created by capturing just a single heartbeat, thanks to a 1,000 samples per second per channel capture rate, enabling extremely rapid mapping of heart rhythms. The CardioInsight system is a product of Medtronic, and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“The CardioInsight system further expands the portfolio of solutions available for common and complex arrhythmias,” said Colleen Fowler, vice president and general manager of Medtronic AF Solutions. “This technology, which has been in development for decades, is now poised to drive greater physician insights and new advancements in the study and treatment of infrequent, unstable cardiac rhythms in a noninvasive, patient-friendly manner.”

“By offering this noninvasive approach, we are effectively streamlining the clinical procedure planning process for clinicians, and making it easy for patients to receive precise mapping results from their providers right at their bedside,” said Vivek Reddy, MD, director of cardiac arrhythmia services Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY, USA). “This system shifts mapping away from the EP lab, potentially saving time and enhancing the patient experience.”

Cardiac mapping displays data gathered from ECGs in the form of electroanatomical maps that can be presented as activation, isochronal, propagation, or voltage maps. Isochronal vector maps are used to study and guide ablative therapies of arrhythmias; activation maps display local activation time, color-coded and overlaid on reconstructed 3D geometry; propagation maps show a dynamic color display of the propagation of the activation wavefront across the reconstructed chamber; and voltage maps display the peak-to-peak amplitude of the electrogram, sampled at each site in color-coded values.