Abstract: A system includes a catheter, a pulse generator and a controller. The catheter is configured for insertion into a body of a patient, and includes at least a first electrode, a second electrode and a third electrode, which are disposed at a distal end of the catheter and are configured to contact tissue within the body. The pulse generator is configured to apply one or more bipolar ablation pulses between the first and second electrodes, for ablating the tissue in contact with the first and second electrodes. The controller is configured to: (i) control the pulse generator to apply the one or more bipolar ablation pulses between the first and second electrodes, (ii) receive a signal indicative of a voltage, measured between the third electrode and a reference during application of the ablation pulses, and (iii) issue a notification in response to detecting that the voltage violates a predefined criterion.

Abstract: A system includes a catheter and a processor. The catheter includes (i) a shaft for insertion into a cavity of an organ of a patient, (ii) an expandable distal-end assembly coupled to a distal end of the shaft and comprising splines fitted with spline-electrodes, (iii) a proximal position sensor and a respective proximate proximal electrode located both at a proximal end of the distal-end assembly, and (iv) an independent wire that extends at the distal tip, with a distal position sensor and a respective proximate distal electrode located both at a distal end of the independent wire. The processor is configured to estimate locations of one or more of the spline-electrodes by performing impedance measurements on the one or more of the electrodes, and to calibrate the impedance measurements based on signals received from the proximal position sensor and the distal position sensor and the respective proximal and distal electrodes.

Abstract: A medical probe includes a shaft and an expandable flexible distal-end assembly. The shaft is configured for insertion into a cavity of organ of a patient. The expandable flexible distal-end assembly, which is fitted at a distal-end of the shaft, includes a flat flexible backing sheet, including irrigation channels, and two flexible substrates having respective arrays of electrodes disposed thereon, the substrates attached one on either side of the backing sheet.

Abstract: A catheter is disclosed comprising: a connector including a plurality of first contacts and one or more second contacts; a shaft including a plurality of electrodes, each electrode being coupled to a different one of the plurality of first contacts; a memory coupled to at least one of the second contacts, wherein the memory is configured to: store a pinout map identifying an order in which the plurality of electrodes is coupled to the plurality of first contacts; and provide the pinout map to an external device via one or more of the second contacts after the connector is coupled to the external device.

Abstract: A medical apparatus includes a probe configured for insertion into a body of a patient and including a plurality of electrodes configured to contact tissue within the body. An electrical signal generator applies bipolar trains of pulses having a voltage amplitude of at least 200 V and having a duration of each of the bipolar pulses less than 20 ?s between at least one pair of the electrodes in contact with the tissue, thereby causing irreversible electroporation of the tissue between the at least one pair of the electrodes. One or more electrical sensors sense an energy dissipated between the at least one pair of the electrodes during the trains of the pulses. A controller controls electrical and temporal parameters of the trains of the pulses applied by the electrical signal generator, responsively to the one or more electrical sensors, so that the dissipated energy satisfies a predefined criterion.

Abstract: A method includes emitting an ultrasound beam, having a predefined field of view (FOV), from an array of ultrasound transducers in a catheter in an organ of a patient. Echo signals are received in the array, in response to the ultrasound beam. A position of a target object is estimated within the FOV. When the estimated position of the target object violates a centering condition, the FOV of the ultrasound beam is automatically modified to re-meet the centering condition.

Abstract: A method includes emitting an ultrasound beam from an array of ultrasound transducers in a catheter placed in a blood pool in an organ. Echo signals reflected in response to the ultrasound beam are received in the array. Distinction is made in the echo signals between (i) first spectral signal components having Doppler shifts characteristic of blood and (ii) second spectral signal components having Doppler shifts characteristic of tissue of the organ. The first spectral signal components are suppressed relative to the second spectral signal components in the echo signals. An ultrasound image of at least a portion of the organ is reconstructed from the echo signals having the suppressed first spectral signal components. The reconstructed image is displayed to a user.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus for calibrating a probe that includes an image sensor and a magnetic field sensor, includes a jig configured to hold the probe, a magnetic field generator configured to generate at least one magnetic field having a predefined direction in alignment with the jig, an optical target aligned with the jig so that the image sensor in the probe is able to capture an image of the optical target while the probe is held in the jig, and processing circuitry configured to receive from the probe a signal output by the magnetic field sensor in response to the at least one magnetic field and the image captured by the image sensor while the probe is held in the jig, and to calibrate an alignment of the image sensor relative to the magnetic field sensor responsively to the received signal and the received image.

Abstract: A method includes receiving a 3D image of a portion of an organ including a cavity, the image comprising voxels having respective values. A wall of the cavity is identified in the image, by (i) positioning virtual solid objects inside respective sub-volumes of the cavity, (ii) moving the virtual solid objects inside the cavity according to a predefined rule of motion, (iii) while the virtual solid objects move inside the cavity, adapting the traversed voxels to predefined value indicative of the interior of the cavity, (iv) responsively to detecting that a virtual solid object comes into contact with the wall, rolling the virtual solid object over the wall, and adapting a surface of the virtual solid object with the values of the voxels over which the surface rolls, and (v) converting adapted voxel values that are lower than a threshold voxel value into the predefined value indicative of the interior.

Abstract: A system for visualizing one or more bubbles formed by a catheter, the system includes a fluid container, a pulse generator, a schlieren imaging assembly, and a processor. The fluid container is configured to: (i) contain a fluid, and (ii) receive into the fluid the catheter having one or more electrodes. The pulse generator is configured to apply one or more pulses to at least one of the electrodes. The schlieren imaging assembly is configured to acquire schlieren images of the bubbles occurring in the fluid when applying the one or more pulses, and the processor is configured to visualize the bubbles using the schlieren images.

Abstract: A method, consisting of providing a metal wire having a wire diameter and an end, and positioning a conductor at a distance from the end of the wire. The method further includes creating an electrical discharge between the conductor and the end, while setting the distance and an electrical potential of the discharge, so as to create a bead of a predefined size on the end. The method also includes assembling the wire with the created bead into an invasive probe, so that the bead is positioned at an outer surface of the probe.

Abstract: A technique is described herein. The technique includes receiving endpoint location data and spline tangent data from a pair of position sensors mounted on opposite ends of a distal tip of a catheter, wherein said distal tip includes a plurality of flexible splines and a plurality of electrodes disposed on each of the flexible splines and wherein said endpoint location data and spline tangent data is received while said distal tip is positioned within a heart chamber; based on said endpoint location data and spline tangent data, calculating Bezier curve control points; based on the Bezier curve control points, determining estimated positions of said plurality of electrodes; and updating an electro-anatomical map of said heart chamber that is rendered on a display based on the estimated positions determined.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and computer program product, the method comprising obtaining a first electrical signal from a catheter comprising a first electrode distally disposed thereon, when the catheter is inserted into a heart chamber of a heart and the first electrode does not touch a chamber wall; performing statistical analysis of the first electrical signal to obtain a first characteristic of the first electrical signal; obtaining a second electrical signal from the catheter, when a second electrode touches a point on the chamber wall; performing statistical analysis of the second electrical signal to obtain a second characteristic of the second electrical signal; determining a similarity measure between the first characteristic and the second characteristic; and subject to the similarity being below a predetermined threshold, indicating the region as potentially belonging to an arrhythmogenic region of the heart.

Abstract: A technique is described herein. The technique includes receiving endpoint location data in a geometry shader; processing the endpoint location data to calculate Bezier curve control points; and based on the Bezier curve control points, determining estimated electrode positions for the catheter.

Abstract: A medical procedure system, including a medical instrument to be inserted into a body part, and including position-tracking transducers to provide position signals, a distal end, and at least one radiopaque marker, a position tracking sub-system to compute a position including at least one location and orientation of the distal end in a position-tracking sub-system coordinate frame responsively to the position signals, a fluoroscope to capture fluoroscopic images of an interior of the body part and the radiopaque marker(s), and a registration sub-system to render, to a display, the captured fluoroscopic images including at least one marker-image of the radiopaque marker(s), and at least one graphical representation indicative of the computed position of the distal end, receive user-alignment input aligning the graphical representation(s) with the marker-image(s), and register the position-tracking sub-system coordinate frame with a coordinate frame of the fluoroscope responsively to the received user-alignmen

Abstract: A catheter is disclosed comprising: a connector including a plurality of first contacts and one or more second contacts; a shaft including a plurality of electrodes, each electrode being coupled to a different one of the plurality of first contacts; a memory coupled to at least one of the second contacts, wherein the memory is configured to: store a pinout map identifying an order in which the plurality of electrodes is coupled to the plurality of first contacts; and provide the pinout map to an external device via one or more of the second contacts after the connector is coupled to the external device.

Abstract: A method includes receiving multiple electrophysiological (EP) signals acquired by multiple electrodes of a multi-electrode catheter that are in contact with tissue in a region of a cardiac chamber, and respective tissue locations at which the electrodes acquired the EP signals. The region is divided into two sections. Using the EP signals acquired by the electrodes, local activation times (LAT) are calculated for the respective tissue locations, and found are: a first section of the two sections having a smaller average LAT value, and a second section of the two sections having a higher average value. Determined are a first representative location in the first section, and a second representative location in the second section. A propagation vector is calculated between the first and second representative locations, that is indicative of propagation of an EP wave that has generated the EP signals. The propagation vector is presented to a user.

Abstract: A method of body tissue ablation includes defining an ultrahigh-power ultrashort-duration (UPUD) ablation protocol that specifies an ablation signal having (i) a target ablation power of at least 400 Watts and (ii) a pulse duration that does not exceed three seconds, for creating a specified lesion in tissue in a body of a patient. Contact is made between an ablation probe and the tissue. Using the ablation probe, the ablation signal is applied to the tissue according to the UPUD protocol, which delivers the ablation signal having the specified target ablation power and duration.

Abstract: In one embodiments, a phacoemulsification apparatus includes a phacoemulsification probe including a horn, a needle mounted in the horn and configured for insertion into a lens capsule of a human eye, and a piezoelectric actuator configured to vibrate the horn and the needle and having a resonant frequency, a signal generator configured to generate a drive signal to drive a vibration of the piezoelectric actuator, phase detection circuitry configured to measure a phase difference between: a voltage across the piezoelectric actuator, and a current flowing through the piezoelectric actuator in response to the drive signal, and a controller configured to adjust a frequency of the drive signal so as to minimize the measured phase difference, whereby the piezoelectric actuator vibrates at the resonant frequency.

Abstract: A disposable single-piston dual-action reciprocating pump part includes a single piston, an output port, and a balloon damper. The output port is configured for outputting fluid pumped by the single piston. The balloon damper is fitted in the output port, and the balloon damper is configured to suppress a pulsation in a flow rate of the outputted fluid.