Apparatus and method for predicting cardiac arrhythmia by detection of micropotentials and analysis of all ECG segments and intervals
US5609158A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 1, 1995 |
| Grant date | Mar 11, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 1, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B5/7257
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus and method for the acquisition and analysis of electrocardiogram signals, to non-invasively detect and quantify presence of abnormal cardiac conduction patterns in patients at risk of heart disease, e.g. ventricular tachycardia; atrial fibrillation and flutter. Signals from the orthogonal X, Y and Z surface leads are amplified, digitized and either stored for later processing, or processed immediately. The incoming beats can either be R wave-triggered, aligned and ensemble-averaged for studies of patients at risk for ventricular pathologies such as ventricular tachycardia, or P wave-triggered, aligned and ensemble-averaged for studies of patients at risk for atrial pathologies, e.g. atrial fibrillation and flutter. QRS onset and offset, and P wave onset and offset, are calculated for ventricular and atrial post-analysis applications, respectively. The windowed Fourier transform of the second derivative (acceleration) of the signal-averaged ECG is calculated for particular regions of interest for each lead, including the intra-QRS, ST-segment, T and P wave regions. A novel Spectral Change Index, calculated from the resulting "acceleration spectrum" for each lead as well…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.