| Currently over 500,000 people die annually from a variety of cardiac disorders. One particular class of cardiac disorders, cardiac arrhythmias, account for a significant percentage of the yearly cardiac deaths. Cardiac arrhythmias are simply an electrical disturbance in the heart that results in an abnormal heart rhythm. Treatment of cardiac arrhythmias include surgical, drug and catheter-based procedures. For certain types of arrhythmias (atrial), catheter ablation has a high success rate (>90% cure for certain arrhythmias) coupled with an extremely low risk of complication (<2%). However, for cardiac arrhythmias centering on the ventricle, catheter-based treatments have been experimental and often unsuccessful. It is chiefly believed that this is a direct result of the poor diagnostic information provided by current cardiac mapping techniques, since all catheter-based treatments require an accurate location of cardiac arrhythmia's tissue origin for successful treatment. It is the purpose of this research to develop a methodology to accurately obtain three dimensional spatial information about multi-electrode cardiac catheters. I develop a methodology based on biplanar X-ray imaging using a novel basket cardiac catheter that can provide accurate three dimensional electrographic information over the entire endocardial surface of the heart. In the original catheter, every electrode is visually identical in appearance. I propose two small additions to the current catheter design. This improvement provides fundamental geometrical and spherical postulates that yield the complete prediction of the location of all electrodes. The model is variable so that it allows for variable sized catheters, while maintaining accurate electrode prediction. The algorithm is adaptable such that it can predict electrode placement, even if they are displaced because of the beating of the heart. The methodology is tested under conditions that are typical of In-vivo circumstances, such as AWGN and multiple electrode movement patterns (as in a beating heart). The electrode identification results are accurate and reliable. Once I identify and locate each electrode uniquely, I perform three dimensional reconstruction of the catheter, using the mathematical, geometric, and spherical postulates defined in the methodology. |
