Central venous catheter electrocardiographic navigation system

Catheter navigation systems are non-invasive assemblies comprising a portable battery-powered control unit, electrocardiographic (ECG) cables and leads that process ECG signals to assist guidance and positioning of central venous catheters including peripherally-inserted central catheters (PICCs) and haemodialysis catheters, utilising the catheter itself as an intravascular electrode with the guidewire or intraluminal saline as a conductor to detect intravascular ECG changes that indicate catheter position. These systems are intended to provide real time tip location information of central venous catheters by observing P-wave changes as the tip approaches the right atrium of the heart via the superior vena cava.