Summary
This novel method for viewing electrocardiograph (ECG) leads is arranged to represent a specific anatomical structure of a patient’s heart and manipulate the tracings for ease of analysis. The system displays the ECG leads for viewing heart rhythms and abnormalities such as ischemia and infarction within a more user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI), as compared to the traditional twelve-lead ECG’s presentation.
Inventors
Mark Smith, MD
Rahul Bhat, MD
What is it? What does it do?
An electrocardiogram (ECG) detects and amplifies tiny electrical signals on the skin caused when the heart contracts during each heartbeat, giving the clinician a picture of heart health. In a standard 12-lead ECG, the heart is divided up into 12 segments like a clock and each segment is known as a “lead”. Combining two or more leads will show the electrical activity of a part of the heart. Any electrical anomalies can suggest problems with the heart including rapid or slowed heart rate, irregular heartbeat, or even heart attack.
Currently, the lead display is not arranged in an intuitive way for interpretation which can lead to missed or erroneous diagnoses. One of the critical ECG tracing patterns that is imperative to identify immediately is “ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI)”, which represents a heart attack. Using the standard twelve-lead ECG, the ST Segment is difficult to identify, posing extreme risk to a patient’s health if missed.
The MI Viewer system displays the ECG data arranged together such that the data representing each heart wall are presented sequentially and in isolation, allowing for a more intuitive evaluation of the lead display. It guides the physician through the sequence of steps to perform a more accurate systematic visual scan of the ECG lead signals.
Detecting ST elevation can be challenging when the ECG is oriented in a normal, right-side-up fashion. The MI Viewer can rotate the ECG 90 or 180 degrees, allowing the eye to identify an ST elevation in a horizontal or inverted orientation more easily than in a standard presentation. Additionally, the MI Viewer can overlay previous ECG tracings and allows for scrolling through previous and current ECGs simultaneously, enabling providers to compare readings for a more accurate and comprehensive picture of a patient’s heart condition.
Why is it better?
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Saves time and improves accuracy of ECG interpretation
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Groups ECG leads together to represent the anterior wall, lateral wall, inferior wall, and posterior wall of the heart of the patient
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Allows the user to manipulate the display of the sequence of proper subsets of the plurality of detected voltage differences by one of magnification, zooming, rotation, and flipping
Photos
What is its current status?
The MI Viewer is currently in its development phase.
To support this invention, MedStar Inventor Services filed for a U.S. patent, which was granted in December 2020: U.S. Patent No. 10,874,319 B2, “Electrocardiograph display by anatomical structure.”
The MedStar Inventor Services team is now seeking a licensing/collaboration partner to develop and commercialize this technology. Please contact us at invent@medstar.net.