The on-line analysis of atrial pressures using a digital computer.

Abstract A computer program for the on-line analysis of the waveforms of atrial pressure has been developed and utilized in the study of patients. The computer logic analyzes the pressure waves for mean pressure, “a” waves and “v” waves. The “a” wave analysis is omitted when atrial fibrillation is present, and analysis of atrial pressures during atrial or ventricular premature beats is deleted by selection of representative waveforms. Using these techniques, excellent reproducibility for computer analyzed data was demonstrated by measuring similar pressures taken at different times, and a high degree of accuracy for computer measurements was suggested by the excellent correlations between computer analyzed and manually measured data. Computer measurements are more reproducible than manual measurements.