A preliminary study on atrial epicardial mapping signals based on Graph Theory

Liqian Sun; Cuiwei Yang; Lin Zhang; Ying Chen; Zhong Wu; Jun Shao

doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2014.03.011

A preliminary study on atrial epicardial mapping signals based on Graph Theory

Med Eng Phys. 2014 Jul;36(7):875-81. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2014.03.011. Epub 2014 Apr 24.

Authors

Liqian Sun¹, Cuiwei Yang², Lin Zhang¹, Ying Chen³, Zhong Wu⁴, Jun Shao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
² Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: yangcw@fudan.edu.cn.
³ Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211102, China.
⁴ Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
⁵ Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.

PMID: 24768086
DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2014.03.011

Abstract

In order to get a better understanding of atrial fibrillation, we introduced a method based on Graph Theory to interpret the relations of different parts of the atria. Atrial electrograms under sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation were collected from eight living mongrel dogs with cholinergic AF model. These epicardial signals were acquired from 95 unipolar electrodes attached to the surface of the atria and four pulmonary veins. Then, we analyzed the electrode correlations using Graph Theory. The topology, the connectivity and the parameters of graphs during different rhythms were studied. Our results showed that the connectivity of graphs varied from sinus rhythm to atrial fibrillation and there were parameter gradients in various parts of the atria. The results provide spatial insight into the interaction between different parts of the atria and the method may have its potential for studying atrial fibrillation.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Epicardial mapping; Graph Theory.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Algorithms
Animals
Atrial Fibrillation / diagnosis*
Atrial Fibrillation / physiopathology*
Body Surface Potential Mapping / methods*
Computer Simulation
Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / methods*
Dogs
Heart Atria / physiopathology
Heart Conduction System / physiopathology*
Models, Cardiovascular*
Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted
Pericardium / physiopathology*
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity