An ECG Inverse Solution by Using the Spheroidal Harmonics

Abstract

A new method has been devised to estimate the epicardial potential distribution from the measured body surface mapping. In this method, the heart shape was approximated by a half of spheroid and the spheroidal harmonics expansion of the cardiac field was used to relate the epicardial potential distribution and the body surface potential distribution.
To investigate the validity of this method, the animal experiment was conducted with an intact dog and its epicardial and body surface potentials were recorded simultaneously. The epicardial potential distribution calculated on the heart approximated by a spheroid from the measured body surface potentials was found to be in fairly good correspondence with the measured epicardial potential distribution during QRS complex.