Abstract:

Body surface potential mapping (BSPM) can be used to non- invasively measure the electrical activity of the heart using a dense set of thorax electrodes and a CT/MR scan of the thorax to solve the inverse problem of electrophysiology (ECGi). This technique now shows potential clinical value for the assessment and treatment of patients with arrhythmias. Co-localisation of the electrode positions and the CT/MR thorax scan is essential. This manuscript describes a method to perform the co-localisation using multiple biplane X-ray images. The electrodes are automatically detected and paired in the X-ray images. Then the 3D positions of the electrodes are computed and mapped onto the thorax surface derived from CT/MR. The proposed method is based on a multi-scale blob detection algorithm and the generalized Hough transform, which can automatically discriminate the leads used for BSPM from other ECG leads. The pairing method is based on epi-polar constraint matching and line pattern detection which assumes that BSPM electrodes are arranged in strips. The proposed methods are tested on a thorax phantom and two clinical cases. Results show an accuracy of 0.33 ± 0.20mm for detecting electrodes in the X-ray images and a success rate of 95.4%. The automatic pairing method achieves a 91.2% success rate.

Abstract:

Cardiac electrophysiology procedures are routinely used to treat patients with rhythm disorders. The success rates of ablation procedures and cardiac resynchronization therapy are still sub-optimal. Recent advances in medical imaging, image processing and cardiac biophysical modeling have the potential to improve patient outcome. This manuscript provides an overview of how these advances have been translated into the clinical environment.