Abstract
A three-dimensional dynamic model of the electrical activity of the heart is presented. The model is based on the single dipole model of the heart and is later related to the body surface potentials through a linear model which accounts for the temporal movements and rotations of the cardiac dipole, together with a realistic ECG noise model. The proposed model is also generalized to maternal and fetal ECG mixtures recorded from the abdomen of pregnant women in single and multiple pregnancies. The applicability of the model for the evaluation of signal processing algorithms is illustrated using independent component analysis. Considering the difficulties and limitations of recording long-term ECG data, especially from pregnant women, the model described in this paper may serve as an effective means of simulation and analysis of a wide range of ECGs, including adults and fetuses.
Highlights
The electrical activity of the cardiac muscle and its relationship with the body surface potentials, namely the electrocardiogram (ECG), has been studied with different approaches ranging from single dipole models to activation maps [1]
Note that most of these algorithms have been applied blindly, meaning that the a priori information about the underlying signal sources and the propagation media have not been considered. This suggests that by using additional information such as the temporal dynamics of the cardiac signal, we can improve the performance of existing signal processing methods
According to the single dipole model of the heart, the myocardium’s electrical activity may be represented by a timevarying rotating vector, the origin of which is assumed to be at the center of the heart as its end sweeps out a quasiperiodic path through the torso
Summary
The electrical activity of the cardiac muscle and its relationship with the body surface potentials, namely the electrocardiogram (ECG), has been studied with different approaches ranging from single dipole models to activation maps [1]. This means that they can only be used as far-field approximations of the cardiac activity, and do not have evident interpretations in terms of the underlying electrophysiology [2] Despite these intrinsic limitations, the single dipole model still remains a popular model, since it accounts for 80% to 90% of the power of the body surface potentials [2, 3]. Note that most of these algorithms have been applied blindly, meaning that the a priori information about the underlying signal sources and the propagation media have not been considered This suggests that by using additional information such as the temporal dynamics of the cardiac signal (even through approximate models such as the single dipole model), we can improve the performance of existing signal processing methods. The model described in this paper is believed to be an effective means of providing realistic simulations of maternal/fetal ECG mixtures in single and multiple pregnancies
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