Electrocardiographic waveform monitoring system

• Main Author: KLAMMER, PETER J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 26.11.2003
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: DIAGNOSIS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IDENTIFICATION; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; SURGERY

A method and system for use in an EKG system are provided for selecting from a number of different voltage threshold detectors that detector likely to yield the most reliable data to be utilized in determining whether the electrical activity of the heart is normal or abnormal. The method and system work by first specifying (42; 16) a particular window of time during which the outputs of the number of different voltage threshold detectors are to be observed. On the basis of the observation, different detectors are specified (44; 32) as either active or inactive. For those detectors specified as active, the times at which their thresholds were crossed during the specified window of time are recorded (46; 26), and on the basis of these recorded times, the temporal regularity of threshold crossing for each detector is calculated (48; 18). The detector with both the highest regularity of occurrence and the greatest magnitude threshold is then selected (58, 60; 24) as the one likely to yield the most accurate data, unless (58, 80; 24) other lower-in-magnitude detectors have the same regularity (within some user specified range of tolerance) as the one with the highest magnitude. In this case, if other lower-in-magnitude detectors have time rates of occurrence (a different measure than the temporal regularity) two times or more the time rate of occurrence of the highest magnitude-highest temporal regularity detector, then at least one of such lower-in-magnitude detectors can be chosen as being likely to yield the most accurate data.