Computer-aided localization of site of origin of cardiac activation

1. A computer implemented method for localizing an activation site of origin to one of a plurality of segments of the heart comprising:

acquiring a first plurality of simultaneously recorded electrocardiographic (ECG) signals using a plurality of electrodes,

calculating a body surface potential map (BSPM) of interest representing a second plurality of ECG signals different than the first plurality from the acquired first plurality of ECG signals by interpolating between the first plurality of ECG signals and the second plurality ECG signals using regression coefficients pre-derived from a collection of previously recorded BSPMs;

comparing the BSPM of interest to each BSPM template of a pre-determined set of BSPM templates, the set comprising one BSPM template for each pre-defined segment of the heart, wherein the BSPM of interest is calculated from the plurality of simultaneously recorded ECG signals and wherein comparing comprises, for each BSPM template of the set of BSPM templates:

retrieving a BSPM template from a computer memory; and

calculating one or more comparison metrics for the BSPM template retrieved as compared to the BSPM of interest,

wherein each of the BSPM templates was generated by averaging BSPMs of all pacing sites within the associated segment of the heart from a collection of BSPMs stored in computer memory;

identifying the BSPM template that most closely resembles the BSPM of interest using the one or more comparison metrics calculated in order to identify the segment of the heart in which the activation site of origin is likely to be located; and

performing catheter mapping on the segment of the heart in which the activation site of origin is likely to be located.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the BSPM of interest was calculated from a 12 lead ECG.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising either general or patient-specific coefficients as regression coefficients.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein an optimal number of said second plurality of ECG signals is selected using a regression analysis of the collection of BSPMs.

5. A computer program comprising software code adapted to perform a method for quantifying, during pacemapping, a comparison of a BSPM of interest to a pace site BSPM, the method comprising:

receiving at a computing device a first plurality of ECG signals from an acquisition system;

calculating the pace site BSPM in real time using the first plurality of ECG signals, the pace site BSPM representing a second plurality of ECG signals different than the first plurality, by interpolating between the first plurality of ECG signals and the second plurality ECG signals using regression coefficients pre-derived from a collection of previously recorded BSPMs;

comparing the BSPM of interest to the pace site BSPM in real time, wherein comparing comprises:

retrieving the BSPM of interest from memory accessible by the computing device; and

calculating one or more comparison metrics for the BSPM of interest as compared to the pace site BSPM; and

displaying on a user interface in communication with the computing device an indication of similarity between the BSPM of interest and the pace site BSPM based on the comparison metric calculated.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising either general or patient-specific coefficients as regression coefficients.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein calculating one or more comparison metrics comprises calculating one or more wave-form comparison metrics.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the wave-form comparison metrics comprise correlation coefficients, mean absolute deviation and root mean square of the difference.

9. The method of claim 5 further comprising, prior to pace mapping, localizing an activation site of origin to one of a plurality of segments of the heart using said retrieved BSPM of interest.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein an optimal number of said second plurality of ECG signals is selected using a regression analysis of the collection of BSPMs.