The feasibility of beat-to-beat detection of His-Purkinje activity by finite element method

A noninvasive method has been applied on human and canine subjects to observe beat-to-beat activity of the His-Purkinje system without using signal averaging. Recordings were performed with multiple Ag/AgCl electrodes, very low noise, high gain amplifiers and by analog filtering. The subjects were in a supine position during the recording. In order to reduce random noise inherent in the high-gain body surface recording, a finite element method (FEM) was applied to calculate His-Purkinje activity. The dimensional relationship between electrode sites, necessary for the calculation, was pre-estimated by x-ray computed tomographs of the subject. A prominent waveform was observed between the atrial and ventricular complexes and corresponded to His bundle activity which was simultaneously recorded by an intracardiac electrode (on every beat). It was, however, difficult to recognize the His-Purkinje activity during inhalation due to the thoracic electromyogram on some human subjects. This interference could theoretically be reduced by increasing the number of body surface electrodes used for this technique.