Patient-specific 12-lead ECG reconstruction from sparse electrodes using independent component analysis

We propose and evaluate a method of 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) reconstruction from a three-lead set. The method makes use of independent component analysis and results in adaptive patient-specific transforms. The required calibration process is short and makes use of a single beat. We apply the method to two sets of leads: leads I, II, V2 and the Frank XYZ leads. Performance is evaluated via percent correlation calculations between reconstructed and original leads from a publicly available database of 549 ECG recordings. Results depict percent correlation exceeding 96% for almost all leads. Adaptability of the method's transform is shown to compensate for changes in signal propagation conditions due to breathing, resulting in reduced variance of reconstruction accuracy across beats. This implies that the method is robust to changes that occur after the time of calibration. Accurate and adaptive reconstruction has the potential to augment the clinical significance of wireless ECG systems since the number of sensor nodes placed on the body is limited and the subject could be mobile.