Abstract:

Electrocardiographic imaging (ECG imaging) is a method to depict electrophysiological processes in the heart. It is an emerging technology with the potential of making the therapy of cardiac arrhythmia less invasive, less expensive, and more precise. A major challenge for integrating the method into clinical workflow is the seamless and correct identification and localization of electrodes on the thorax and their assignment to recorded channels. This work proposes a camera-based system, which can localize all electrode positions at once and to an accuracy of approximately 1+/-1 mm. A system for automatic identification of individual electrodes is implemented that overcomes the need of manual annotation. For this purpose, a system of markers is suggested, which facilitates a precise localization to subpixel accuracy and robust identification using an error-correcting code. The accuracy of the presented system in identifying and localizing electrodes is validated in a phantom study. Its overall capability is demonstrated in a clinical scenario.

Abstract:

This handout describes the simulation dataset KIT-20-PVC_Simulation-1906-10-30, which was contributed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to the Experimental Data and Geometric Analysis Repository (EDGAR) database.

Abstract:

Electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) facilitates the non-invasive reconstruction of electrical activity in the entire heart at once. ECGI requires both recordings of multi-channel ECG signals as well as an MRI-based model of the thorax. The model is used to solve the underlying Poissons problem, which relates the gradient of transmembrane voltages in the heart to the ECG and is a spatial differential equation. In ECGI, this relationship has to be established before starting inverse calculations, i.e. the forward problem has to be solved. It solution depends strongly on the spatial discretization of the model, as its resolution affects the representation of the source gradients. To study the convergence of resolution-related effects in the forward problem, we use a simplified thorax model which allows for very high resolutions. An ECG is produced for the excitation origin of a premature ventricular contraction in the apex. The study reveals that the greatest resolution-related effects vanish below a resolution of 5 mm of the cardiac tissue. At below 1 mm, resolution effects stabilize and only marginal effects from the spatial structure of the mesh persist down to a resolution of 0.25 mm.

Abstract:

With ECG imaging it is possible to reconstruct cardiac electrical activity noninvasively from measurements of the electrocardiogram (ECG). To facilitate the recon- struction, an MRI- or CT- based model of the body is re- quired, which is represented as a volume conductor. A mathematically ill-posed problem is solved to reconstruct the cardiac sources from potentials collected on the body surface. To obtain a body surface potential map (BSPM) electrodes are ideally placed allover the entire thorax. In practical applications, however, the number of electrodes is limited and the placing is subject to constraints. We in- vestigate the effect of different electrode setups on the ill- posedness of the inverse problem. In particular, electrode setups are chosen to comply with constraints for female pa- tients in the catheter lab.