Analyzing murine electrocardiogram with PhysioToolkit
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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Analyzing Long-Term Electrocardiography Recordings to Detect Arrhythmias in Mice
Published on: May 23, 2021
Thomas Galetin1, Marco Weiergräber, Jürgen Hescheler
1Institute of Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. thomas.galetin@uni-koeln.de
Abstract:
Quantitative electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis is a very important tool in cardiovascular and neuroedocrine research. It is useful in clinical trials with human beings, as well as in animals such as rabbits, rats, and mice, for example, in studying knockout models. The species of interest differ in their typical baseline heart rate and therefore in the sampling rate in ECG detection. However, for obvious reasons, there are no available analysis programs adjusted to each species. We demonstrate how to use PhysioToolkit, an open source software developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology for physiologic signal processing and analysis in humans, with murine ECG signals, with full control over analysis options. The procedure can be transferred on any other species in an analogue way.
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