Abstract: A phacoemulsification method includes specifying a target intraocular pressure (IOP) level to be maintained in an eye of a patient during a phacoemulsification procedure. A phacoemulsification probe is inserted into the eye. The eye is irrigated with irrigation fluid and material is aspired from the eye while aiming to maintain the target IOP level, including controlling IOP fluctuations by (i) when an actual IOP in the eye is in a defined high range, limiting the IOP fluctuations to a given value, and (ii) when the actual IOP is in a defined low range that is lower than the high range, allowing the IOP fluctuations to exceed the given value.

Abstract: A phacoemulsification system including a phacoemulsification probe having a probe body, a horn disposed at least partially in the probe body, a needle coupled with the horn and configured to be inserted into an eye, and a piezoelectric actuator disposed in the probe body and configured to vibrate the horn and the needle in a first direction with a stroke length with respect to the probe body; a signal generator configured to generate a drive signal to drive a vibration of the piezoelectric actuator; a stroke measurement apparatus configured to provide indications of the stroke length of the needle over time; and a controller configured to dynamically adjust a frequency of the drive signal so as to maximize the stroke length and maintain mechanical resonance of the needle responsively to the provided indications of the stroke length.

Abstract: Medical apparatus includes a probe with a basket assembly at its distal end, including a plurality of resilient spines with multiple electrodes arrayed along a length of each of the spines. Processing circuitry is configured to acquire a first bipolar electrical signal from the tissue between first and second electrodes at first and second locations along a first spine of the basket assembly, and to acquire a second bipolar electrical signal from the tissue between the first electrode and a third electrode in a third location on a second spine of the basket assembly, and to interpolate, based on the first and second bipolar electrical signals, a vectorial electrical property of the tissue along an axis that passes through the first location and between the second and third locations.

Abstract: In one exemplary mode, a phacoemulsification system includes a phacoemulsification probe, an irrigation tube to provide irrigation fluid into an eye, an irrigation pump to pump irrigation fluid into the eye, an aspiration tube convey aspiration fluid from the eye, an aspiration pump to pump the aspiration fluid from the eye, a sensor to provide a signal indicative of current intraocular pressure in the eye, and a pump controller to receive the signal provided by the sensor, compute a value of intraocular pressure at a future time responsively to the provided signal and an indicator of change in the intraocular pressure over time, and control the irrigation pump to adjust a flow rate of the irrigation fluid to maintain the intraocular pressure at a given intraocular pressure responsively to the computed value of the intraocular pressure at the future time.

Abstract: A phacoemulsification system, method and computer program product, the system comprising: a phacoemulsification probe having a needle at its distal end, the needle configured to be inserted into an eye of a patient, the probe comprising an ultrasonic transducer; a signal generator, meter, and impedance determination module for determining an impedance between a tip of the needle and an electrode attached to the patient; and a processor, configured to repeatedly: obtain the impedance from the impedance detector; subject to the impedance complying with a condition and the ultrasonic transducer being inactive, toggling the ultrasonic transducer to transmit ultrasonic waves; and subject to the impedance not complying with a condition and the ultrasonic transducer being active, toggling the ultrasonic transducer to stop transmitting ultrasonic waves.

Abstract: A registration device, including a wand, a light guide passing through the wand, and a position sensor fixed to the wand. A light source outputs a modulated beam of light into a light guide proximal end, so that the light is emitted from a light guide distal end toward a surface in proximity to a wand distal tip. A detector receives, from the light guide proximal end, light reflected from the surface into the light guide distal end, and outputs a signal indicative of the reflected light intensity. A processor computes a distance from the distal tip of the wand to the surface by extracting a phase difference between the output beam and the reflected light from the signal, and computes a position of the surface in a sensor frame of reference responsively to the computed distance and the location of the distal tip found from the position sensor.

Abstract: A medical apparatus includes a probe configured for insertion into a body of a patient. The probe includes electrodes configured to contact tissue within the body. The apparatus further includes a display screen, a position-tracking system configured to acquire position coordinates of the electrodes, and a processor. The processor is configured to acquire electrophysiological signals from a group of the electrodes in a sequence of time intervals, extract electrophysiological parameters from the signals, and for each time interval, compute a measure of consistency of the parameters extracted from the signals. The processor is further configured to render to the display screen a three-dimensional map of the tissue while superimposing on the map a visual indication of the extracted parameters for which the measure of consistency satisfied a consistency criterion, and automatically discarding from the map the parameters for which the measure of consistency did not satisfy the criterion.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a probe apparatus includes a shaft having a distal end, a tube containing separate powder granules of a ferrite, the tube being fixed to the distal end of the shaft, a coil disposed around the tube, and electrical wires connected to the coil so as to read out a signal generated across the coil due to an externally-applied magnetic field.

Abstract: A system for electrophysiological measurement includes a probe having a distal end configured for insertion into a body cavity of a living subject and including an array of electrodes that are disposed along the distal end and are configured to contact tissue at multiple locations within the body cavity. A processor is configured to acquire signals from the electrodes over a period of time during which the probe moves within the body cavity, to compute, in response the signals, metrics that are indicative of a respective quality of contact between each of the electrodes and the tissue over the period of time, and to output an indication of the metrics to a user of the system.

Abstract: A method for radiographic imaging of a body cavity includes imaging the body cavity using computerized tomography (CT) to form a CT image, registering a tracking system with the CT image, inserting into the body cavity a guidewire, including a position sensor, operating in the tracking system, attached to a distal end of the guidewire, in response to signals from the position sensor acquired by the tracking system, displaying a position of the distal end of the guidewire on the CT image. The method further includes assigning voxels within a predefined imaging volume relative to the distal end and having a radiodensity less than a predetermined threshold to have a uniform radiodensity of a predefined default value, incorporating the voxels with the assigned predefined default value into the CT image so as to form an updated CT image, and displaying the updated CT image.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a catheter introducer for compressing a distal end assembly of a catheter for insertion into a sheath includes a compression conduit having a truncated conical-form cavity, and including a distal and proximal opening, the proximal opening being configured to receive the distal end assembly, the cavity tapering from the proximal to the distal opening so that successive portions of the distal end assembly are compressed as the catheter is advanced distally, a distal connector connected to the distal opening, and configured to be reversibly coupled to the sheath and provide passage for the compressed portions of the distal end assembly into the sheath, and a proximal retainer disposed adjacent to the proximal opening and including opposing surfaces to at least partially prevent compression of portions of the distal end assembly while more distally disposed portions of the distal end assembly are compressed in the compression conduit.

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 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 phacoemulsification system including a phacoemulsification probe having a probe body, a horn disposed at least partially in the probe body, a needle coupled with the horn and configured to be inserted into an eye, and a piezoelectric actuator disposed in the probe body and configured to vibrate the horn and the needle in a first direction with a stroke length with respect to the probe body; a signal generator configured to generate a drive signal to drive a vibration of the piezoelectric actuator; a stroke measurement apparatus configured to provide indications of the stroke length of the needle over time; and a controller configured to dynamically adjust a frequency of the drive signal so as to maximize the stroke length and maintain mechanical resonance of the needle responsively to the provided indications of the stroke length.

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 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: 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 system includes signal acquisition circuitry and a processor. The signal acquisition circuitry is configured to receive multiple intra-cardiac signals acquired by multiple electrodes of an intra-cardiac probe in a heart of a patient. The processor is configured to perform a sequence of annotation-visualization operations at subsequent times, by performing, in each operation: extracting multiple annotation values from the intra-cardiac signals, selecting a group of the intra-cardiac signals, identifying in the group one or more annotation values that are statistically deviant by more than a predefined measure of deviation, and visualizing the annotation values to a user, while omitting and refraining from visualizing the statistically deviant annotation values.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a system includes a catheter including an insertion tube and a first position sensor, a pusher including a second position sensor, and an expandable assembly including flexible strips disposed circumferentially around a distal portion of the pusher, with first ends of the strips connected to the distal end of the insertion tube and second ends of the strips connected to the distal portion of the pusher, the flexible strips bowing radially outward when the pusher is retracted, processing circuitry to receive a respective position signal from the first and second position sensors, compute location and orientation coordinates for the position sensors subject to a constraint that the position sensors are coaxial and have a same orientation, compute a distance between the computed location coordinates of the position sensors, and find position coordinates of the flexible strips responsively to at least the computed distance.

Abstract: A system includes a processor and a display. The processor is configured to: (a) receive, from a camera inserted into an eye of a patient, at least an optical image of at least a region-of-interest (ROI) of the eye, (b) receive, from a position tracking system (PTS), a position signal indicative of a position of a medical instrument treating the eye, (c) register the optical image and the PTS in a common coordinate system, and (d) estimate the position of the medical instrument in the optical image. The display is configured to visualize at least the ROI and the medical instrument.