Geometrical aspects of the inter-individual variability of multilead ECG recordings

The ECG as measured from healthy subjects shows considerable inter-individual variability. This variability is caused by geometrical, as well as by physiological factors. A correction method for the variability due to the geometrical causes is proposed. In this method, the electrical heart activity is computed from the ECG in a realistic geometrical model. Subsequently, the electrical heart activity is transferred to a standard geometry and the resulting ECG is computed. In an evaluation study using simulated ECG data the inter-individual relative variability (RV) of the multilead ECG data was reduced from 0.40 to 0.06. Applied to measured ECG data so far no reduction could be obtained.

[1]  A. van Oosterom,et al.  Incorporation of the spatial covariance in the inverse problem , 1997 .

[2]  Andrew J. Pullan,et al.  Non-invasive electrical imaging of the heart , 1999, Proceedings of the First Joint BMES/EMBS Conference. 1999 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 21st Annual Conference and the 1999 Annual Fall Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society (Cat. N.

[3]  R. Gulrajani,et al.  A new method for regularization parameter determination in the inverse problem of electrocardiography , 1997, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[4]  Y. Rudy,et al.  Electrocardiographic imaging: Noninvasive characterization of intramural myocardial activation from inverse-reconstructed epicardial potentials and electrograms. , 1998, Circulation.

[5]  J L Willems,et al.  Day‐to‐Day Variation of the Normal Orthogonal Electrocardiogram and Vectorcardiogram , 1972, Circulation.

[6]  R. Barr,et al.  Relating Epicardial to Body Surface Potential Distributions by Means of Transfer Coefficients Based on Geometry Measurements , 1977, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[7]  Y Rudy,et al.  The inverse problem in electrocardiography: solutions in terms of epicardial potentials. , 1988, Critical reviews in biomedical engineering.

[8]  E. R. Smith,et al.  Isointegral Analysis of Body Surface Maps: Surface Distribution and Temporal Variability in Normal Subjects , 1981, Circulation.

[9]  G.J.H. Uijen,et al.  An elasticized net modeling the pericardium , 1997, Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 'Magnificent Milestones and Emerging Opportunities in Medical Engineering' (Cat. No.97CH36136).

[10]  G. Huiskamp.  Difference formulas for the surface Laplacian on a triangulated surface , 1991 .

[11]  S N Hunyor,et al.  Precordial voltage variation in the normal electrocardiogram. , 1980, Journal of electrocardiology.

[12]  R. Hoekema.  The interindividual variability of the electrocardiogram , 1999 .

[13]  R. Gulrajani.  The forward and inverse problems of electrocardiography. , 1998, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology magazine : the quarterly magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society.

[14]  R L Lux,et al.  Sources of variability in normal body surface potential maps. , 1989, Circulation.

[15]  I. Eisenstein,et al.  The electrocardiogram in obesity. , 1982, Journal of electrocardiology.

[16]  G. Huiskamp,et al.  An improved method for estimating epicardial potentials from the body surface , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[17]  Rob S. MacLeod,et al.  Inverse electrocardiography by simultaneous imposition of multiple constraints , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[18]  A. N. Tikhonov,et al.  Solutions of ill-posed problems , 1977 .

[19]  G. Huiskamp,et al.  Simulation of depolarization in a membrane-equations-based model of the anisotropic ventricle , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[20]  D Stilli,et al.  Newer data on the configuration and variability ranges of body surface maps in a sample of normal subjects. , 1988, Journal of electrocardiology.

[21]  P. Hansen.  Numerical tools for analysis and solution of Fredholm integral equations of the first kind , 1992 .

[22]  S C Hunt,et al.  Effects of age, sex, and body habitus on QRS and ST-T potential maps of 1100 normal subjects. , 1985, Circulation.

[23]  W. Einthoven.  THE GALVANOMETRIC REGISTRATION OF THE HUMAN ELECTROCARDIOGRAM, LIKEWISE A REVIEW OF THE USE OF THE CAPILLARY‐ELECTROMETER IN PHYSIOLOGY 1 * , 1997 .

[24]  A. Oosterom.  The use of the spatial covariance in computing pericardial potentials , 1999 .

[25]  Charles L. Lawson,et al.  Solving least squares problems , 1976, Classics in applied mathematics.