A method to locate electrode placement

A new method uses redundancy in the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) to determine the angles to all of the electrodes used to record the ECG. No other transducers or signals are needed. The method, a matrix manipulation of the standard 12-lead, would be applicable to all existing ECGs already stored on hospital systems. The invention of this method was originally motivated by the slight differences seen between ECGs acquired by the standard resting electrode placement versus those acquired in a monitoring or exercise placement. An ECG signal is acquired in multiple channels. A covariance matrix is formed. From the eigenvector solution of the matrix, the angles between the eigenvectors and the original signal vectors are determined. The angles calculated for any ECG test are compared to reference angles to determine whether the electrodes are placed in the standard ECG electrode placement, an alternative electrode placement, or an incorrect electrode placement.