Dipole modeling in electrocardiographic classification of acute ischemia

Acute ischemia is commonly detected with electrocardiography. In diagnostic use 12-lead ECG is the standard setup, during monitoring reduced lead sets are often used. In this work we tested, whether equivalent dipole orientation can be used for ischemia classification. 120-channel body surface potential mapping (BSPM) was measured from 22 ischemic patients during PTCA operation. ST60 amplitude map was chosen as classification parameter. The equivalent dipoles between different coronary arteries differed in position and especially in orientation. Dipole moment orientation was used for classification of ischemic arteries. In addition to BSPM, 12-lead, and some other small lead sets were used for fitting. The best classification results (not counting BSPM) were obtained with modified 12-lead layout (LAD 100%, LCX 86%, RCA 100%). The results show that dipole modeling is a potential tool for ischemia classification