Patent ID: 8075486
Filing Date: 2011-12-13
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. A computer-assisted method for producing images of a heart in a living subject, comprising the steps of: introducing at least one probe into said heart, said at least one probe having a location sensor and an acoustic transducer; measuring electrical signals passing through said heart at different locations in said heart with said probe and determining respective spatial coordinates of said locations by processing data provided by said location sensor; generating an electrical activation map of said heart responsively to said electrical signals; acquiring a gated, two-dimensional ultrasound image of said heart by processing signals provided by said acoustic transducer; registering said electrical activation map with said gated, two-dimensional ultrasound image; associating identifiable anatomic structures on said electrical activation map with said gated, two-dimensional ultrasound image by correlating spatial map coordinates on said electrical map with spatial image coordinates on said gated, two-dimensional ultrasound image and applying visual indicators to said identifiable anatomic structures based on the correlation, thereby automatically identifying said anatomic structures on said gated, two-dimensional ultrasound image to create a reconstruction; and displaying said reconstruction overlaid on one or more new gated, two-dimensional ultrasound images.