Method of analysis of the electrocardiogram

• US 6,754,523 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2001
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toole J. Gerald
• Original Assignee: Toole J. Gerald
• Inventors: Toole, J. Gerald
• Primary Examiner(s): MANUEL, GEORGE C
• Application Number:
  US09/996,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20020082510A1
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 600/508, 600/509, 600/512, 600/516, 600/517
• US Class Current: 600/509
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/341 Vectorcardiography [VCG]

Abstract

A method of analyzing the electrocardiogram (“ECG”) using a set of vectors mathematically derived from the heart vector. The entire ECG waveform of one representative heartbeat is analyzed as a time series of vectors taken at selected time intervals. The vector set consists of the heart vector, the vector of deviation, vector of abnormality, delta vector, the delta vector deviation, and the delta vector abnormality. The analysis system can be applied to two or any greater number of ECG leads represented on planar axes, orthogonal spatial axes, or four or more axes in multidimensional space. The normal range of the ECG in this method is delineated by an adaptive multi-dimensional polyhedron in space to which the unknown ECG is compared. This is accomplished by utilizing a computer platform and the software program to support the required mathematical calculations.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing an electrocardiograph heart signal comprising the steps of:

(a) establishing a group median heart vector for a selected time increment based upon individual heart vectors of a sample of a specified grouping of persons, the group median heart vector having a digitized value;

(b) establishing a distribution of individual heart vectors for the selected time increment of the specified grouping of persons upon which a means of dispersion boundary is derived;

(c) producing a digitized signal of at least two leads from an electrocardiograph of a patient corresponding to the selected time increment;

(d) deriving a patient heart vector for the digitized signal;

(e) deriving a vector of deviation corresponding to the selected time increment based on the derived patient heart vector and the group median heart vector; and

(f) deriving a vector of abnormality for the selected time increment having a point of origin at the selected percentile boundary of the distribution of individual heart vectors.

2. The method of claim 1 and the added steps of establishing a group median heart vector for additional selected time increments and producing additional digitized signals of the at least two leads at other selected time increments.

3. The method of claim 2 and the added steps of deriving additional patient heart vectors and vectors of deviation for each of the digitized signals, and deriving vectors of abnormality for each of the additional time segments.

4. The method of claim 3 and the further step of defining a percentile envelope of the digitized value of the distribution of individual heart vectors of the sample of specified grouping of persons.

5. The method of claim 4 and the added step of characterizing the type and severity of cardiac abnormality based upon the selected time segment, orientation and magnitude of the vectors of abnormality.

6. The method of claim 4 and the further step of selecting the measure of dispersion boundary of the envelope of the distribution of individual heart vectors of the sample of the specified grouping of persons between the 95^th and 99^th percentile.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected time increment is selected from the P, PQ, QRS, or ST-T segments of the electrocardiograph.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the group median heart vector is calculated from any group of individual heart vectors in multi-dimensional space.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the vector of deviation is calculated as the difference between the value of the heart vector and the value of the group median heart vector.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the point of origin of the vector of abnormality is found by determining the selected percentile on an axis which is rotated until the origin of the vector of abnormality is at a minimum value.

11. The method of claim 1 and the further step of establishing a establishing individual delta vectors of the sample of the specified grouping of persons and establishing a group median delta vector between two selected time increments based upon the individual delta vectors and deriving a patient delta vector between two patient heart vectors at the two selected time increments and a delta vector of deviation based on the patient delta vector and the group median delta vector.

12. The method of claim 11 and the further step of establishing a distribution of delta vectors of the sample of the specified grouping of persons.

13. The method of claim 12 and the further step of deriving a delta vector of abnormality having a point of origin at a selected measure of dispersion boundary of the distribution of delta vectors of the sample of the specified grouping of persons.

14. The method of claim 13 and the further step of characterizing the type and severity of cardiac abnormality based upon combinations of vectors of abnormality and delta vectors.