Simultaneous cardiotoposcopy and electrocardiography using high-speed motion pictures

Abstract

An inquiry was made into the dynamics of the electric field of the heart with the aid of 50-channel electroencephalograph of the M. N. Livanov and V. M. Ananiev's design, adjusted for this purpose. Electric activity of the heart was recorded from 50 chest leads, located along the whole anterior and posterior surfaces of the chest. All the 50 leads were projected on one screen in the form of bright spots, the brightness of which depended on the value of the cardiac biopotentials. For simultaneous filming (64 frams per sec) an ECG from any chest lead was projected from the electrocardioscope to the same screen with the aid of a mirror. In healthy persons the electric field excitation is divided into a zone of electronegativity and contralocated zone of electropositivity. At the QRS period these zones make a circular movement around the vertical axis counterclockwise. The travel of these zones may vary considerably in different patients, both in the direction and velocity of the movement.