Equivalent Dipole Trajectories Assessed from the 12-Lead ECG Using a Tailored Human Torso Model

Abstract

We extended our application for the assessment of moving equivalent dipoles (ED) from the surface ECG by incorporating a BEM method to calculate potentials on the surface of a tailored human torso model and explored whether it could provide reliable ED trajectories from the 12-lead ECGs compared to those from the body surface potential map (BSPM) data. We used 17 recordings of the Dalhousie BSPM data (EDGAR) with ECG signals arising from different pacing sites in the same patient and tested for the congruency of the derived ED trajectory patterns of the 12-lead and BSPM data sets. We found that the ED trajectories from these two sets are mutually shifted or rotated by less than the median offset of 1.5 cm and deviation angle of 15°. We believe that assessing the ED trajectory with this accuracy may help improve the detection of depolarization abnormalities in the clinical setting.