DEVELOPMENT AND CLINICAL TESTING OF A TIME-EFFICIENT METHOD FOR TRIANGULATING THE VENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA SITE OF ORIGIN TO SUPPORT CARDIAC ABLATION PROCEDURES

Abstract

This thesis presents a ventricular tachycardia source of origin (VTSO) localization algorithm that assists electrophysiologists during cardiac ablation (CA) procedures. The algorithm uses a linear relationship of electrocardiogram (ECG) similarity and distance between pace mapping (PM) points to identify a small (<6% of total surface area) target region on the ventricle containing the VTSO. An average ventricular linear regression (AVLR) guides PM point selection, a cross-correlation sum algorithm automatically extracts the QRS segment of VT ECGs for analysis, and a surface reconstruction algorithm forms ventricular surface models to visualize results. Retrospective studies using clinical data from 21 patients acquired a target region using between 3 and 5 PM points total, compared with normal pace mapping procedures that require more than 20 PM points. The algorithm should significantly decrease CA procedure time, reducing the total physical stress on the patient's heart while also reducing operating costs for both patients and hospitals.