Cardiovascular haptic handle system

Abstract

Cardiac tissue motion characteristics acquired by novel cardiac sensors are analyzed and processed for the derivation of physiological indices. The indices are output to a hand held local or remote volumetric haptic display and enable an operator to obtain motion related dynamic characteristics of cardiac tissues. The ability to tactually sense the motion of cardiac tissue and the affect on such motion from inserted cardiovascular instrumentation enhances the operator's performance of procedures including the positioning and placement of implanted catheters/sensors, extraction of permanently implanted leads and delivery of cardiovascular therapies. Optimal haptic rendering is achieved by using computational techniques to reconstruct the physically and perceptually relevant aspects of acquired signals and bridge the gap between the inserted catheter and operator's hand/catheter handle.

1 . A haptic system providing tactile sensations simulating the dynamic characteristics of a moving biological organ or tissue of a patient comprising:
 a sensor implanted within the patient and in contact with moving tissue or organ and generating sensor signals indicative of dynamic characteristics of the tissue or organ,   a processor receiving the sensor signals and converting them into tactile signals; and   a haptic handle having at least one tactile element and an actuator coupled to said tactile element, said actuator receiving said tactile signals and, in response causing said tactile element to move in a matter selected to render said parameter to the user when the user holds the handle.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said processor is hard wired to said sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said processor is communicating with said sensor wirelessly to receive said sensor signals, 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  further includes a catheter coupled to said haptic handle and having a body extending to said tissue or organ, with said sensor is in contact with said tissue. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  further including a localization device adapted to provide information indicating the location of the sensors. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein said localization device is an external device and includes at least one of a navigational system, an electromagnetic system, an electrical system, magnetic system, impedance based system, an optical system and a thermal system. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said wherein said handle includes a plurality of tactile elements operated with respective actuators to render at least one of a multidimensional motion. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said sensor is adapted to sense at least one mechanical property of a moving tissue or organ including one of a texture, temperature, elasticity, thickness, deformability and vibrotactile effects. 
     
     
         10 . A haptic handle system providing tactile rendering of the dynamic characteristics of a cardiac tissue comprising:
 a sensor adapted to be selectively coupled to the cardiac tissue and generating sensor signals indicative of the motion of the cardiac tissue;   a processor receiving said sensor signals and being adapted to analyze said sensor signals for various artifacts associated with said sensor signals that degrade the quality of information contained in said sensor signals, said processor being further adapted to compensate for said artifacts and generate corresponding tactile signals;   a handle having at least one tactile element and a tactile element actuator receiving said tactile signals and causing said tactile element to move in a manner selected to provide a tactile rendering of the motion of said cardiac tissue.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  wherein at least said handle is disposed remotely from said sensor, said system further including a communication device providing a communication path for signals from said sensor, whereby the handle is adapted to provide virtual real time rendering at a remote location of the selected cardiac tissue characteristics. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  further comprising a local catheter inserted into a patient body and supporting said sensor contacting the cardiac tissue and a remote catheter attached to said handle, and wherein said tactile element is adapted to move at least a portion of said remote catheter to simulate the motion of said local catheter within the patient's body. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  further comprising a local manipulator for manipulating at least a portion of the local catheter and said communication device provides control signals to said local manipulator and wherein said remote catheter is adapted to be manipulated by an operator through said haptic handle and generate said control signals and wherein the motion of the remote catheter as a result of said manipulation are mirrored by said local catheter as a result of said control signals. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein said haptic handle is adapted to manipulate a plurality of portions of said remote catheter and said local manipulator is adapted to manipulate the respective portions of the local catheter. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10  further comprising a plurality of sensors disposed along the length of the catheter and wherein said haptic handle includes a plurality of tactile elements and actuators controlling said tactile elements, and wherein said sensors generate signals having different frequency ranges and bandwidths and are coupled to different tactile elements thereby providing renderings of different characteristics associated with respective portions of the catheter. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10  where said processor is configured to use haptic rendering techniques as to provide a real time, transparent simulation of cardiac tissue motion and the affect on cardiac tissue motion from an inserted instrument. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10  where said processor is configured to use haptic rendering techniques including at least one of acting as an impedance or admittance haptic display, physical and electrical dampening, passivity controller/passivity observer, extending Z-width, psychophysical methods, methods to prevent the destabilizing the effects of sampling, changes in scalar range, transposition of signals to an audible frequency range.