The use of temporal information in the regularization of the inverse problem of electrocardiography

Taking advantage of the continuity in time of the cardiac activation process, epicardial potential distributions from adjacent time frames (2 ms apart) are used as a priori information to construct a template that predicts the solution of the present time frame. Using the Twomey regularization technique, this template is used in the inversion. Both epicardial and body-surface potential data were measured from a human torso tank with a beating dog heart in the correct human anatomical position. The maps demonstrate that regional events (potential maxima and minima) can be detected earlier and with improved spatial resolution when temporal information is incorporated in the solution. The accuracy can be further improved by increasing the frequency with which body surface potentials are sampled.