Noninvasive cardiac therapy evaluation

1. A system for assisting in noninvasive evaluation of a patient for cardiac therapy comprising:

electrode apparatus comprising a plurality of external surface electrodes positioned in an array, wherein the electrode apparatus is configured to locate the plurality of external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient;

a display apparatus comprising a graphical user interface configured to present cardiac electrical activation time information and cardiac health information; and

computing apparatus coupled to the electrode apparatus and the display apparatus and configured to provide the graphical user interface displayed on the display apparatus to assist a user in noninvasively evaluating the patient for cardiac therapy, wherein the computing apparatus is further configured to:

noninvasively measure surrogate cardiac electrical activation times using one or more external surface electrodes of the plurality of external surface electrodes of the electrode apparatus proximate the patient's skin and proximate the patient's heart without use of an implantable device, wherein the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times are representative of depolarization of cardiac tissue that propagates through the torso of the patient,

display, on the graphical user interface, a graphical depiction of a portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the portion of human anatomy based on the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times that were noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes of the plurality of external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device,

noninvasively measure at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health using one or more external surface electrodes of the plurality of external surface electrodes of the electrode apparatus proximate the patient's skin and proximate the patient's heart without use of an implantable device,

display, on the graphical user interface, the at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes of the plurality of external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device, and

display, on the graphical user interface, a likelihood of whether cardiac therapy for the patient would be beneficial based on the noninvasive measurements using the one or more external surface electrodes of the plurality of external surface electrodes of the electrode apparatus without use of an implantable device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises displaying a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a human torso and a posterior side of a human torso.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises displaying a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a heart and a posterior side of a heart.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one metric comprises QRS width and electrical dyssynchrony.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing apparatus is further configured to display, on the graphical user interface, at least one electrocardiogram of the patient, wherein each of the at least one electrocardiogram are captured using at least one different electrode, and wherein the at least one electrocardiogram is time-aligned on the graphical user interface.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing apparatus is further configured to store the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times, the at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health, and the at least one electrocardiogram for use in comparisons at a later time.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of external surface electrodes are configured to be located proximate the skin of the torso of the patient.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises color scaling the portion of human anatomy on the graphical user interface according to the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times.

9. A computer-implemented method for assisting in noninvasive evaluation of a patient for cardiac therapy, the method comprising:

noninvasively measuring surrogate cardiac electrical activation times using one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of a patient and proximate the patient's heart without use of an implantable device, wherein the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times are representative of depolarization of cardiac tissue that propagates through the torso of the patient;

displaying, on a graphical user interface, a graphical depiction of a portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the portion of human anatomy based on the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times that were noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device;

noninvasively measuring at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health using one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of a patient and proximate the patient's heart without use of an implantable device;

displaying, on the graphical user interface, the at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device; and

displaying, on the graphical user interface, a likelihood of whether cardiac therapy for the patient would be beneficial based on the noninvasive measurements using the one or more external surface electrodes without use of an implantable device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises displaying a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a human torso and a posterior side of a human torso.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises displaying a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a heart and a posterior side of a heart.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one metric comprises QRS width and electrical dyssynchrony.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises displaying, on the graphical user interface, at least one electrocardiogram of the patient, wherein each of the at least one electrocardiogram are captured using at least one different electrode, and wherein the at least one electrocardiogram is time-aligned on the graphical user interface.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises storing the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times, the at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health, and the at least one electrocardiogram for use in comparisons at a later time.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more external surface electrodes are located proximate the skin of the torso of the patient.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises color scaling the portion of human anatomy on the graphical user interface according to the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times.

17. A system for assisting in noninvasive evaluation of a patient for cardiac therapy comprising:

means for noninvasively measuring surrogate cardiac electrical activation times representative of electrical activation times of a patient's heart from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device, wherein the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times are representative of depolarization of cardiac tissue that propagates through the torso of the patient;

means for noninvasively measuring at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device; and

display means for displaying, on a graphical user interface, a graphical depiction of a portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the portion of human anatomy based on the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times, the at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health, and a likelihood of whether cardiac therapy for the patient would be beneficial based on the noninvasive measurements from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein displaying the graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy comprises displaying at least one of a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a human torso and a posterior side of a human torso and a graphical depiction of the measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about a graphical depiction of at least one of an anterior side of a heart and a posterior side of a heart.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one metric comprises QRS width and electrical dyssynchrony.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the display means is further for displaying, on the graphical user interface, at least one electrocardiogram of the patient, wherein each of the at least one electrocardiogram are captured using at least one different electrode, and wherein the at least one electrocardiogram is time-aligned on the graphical user interface.