Utility of a Smartphone Based System (cvrPhone) to Predict Short-term Arrhythmia Susceptibility

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Repolarization alternans (RA) is linked to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
• Current methods for RA detection may be limited in real-time clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a smartphone-based system (cvrPhone) for real-time estimation of RA.
• To assess the system's ability to detect myocardial ischemia and predict tachy-arrhythmias.

Main Methods:

• A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition and monitoring system (cvrPhone) using a smartphone was developed.
• RA was estimated using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method with a custom algorithm.
• In vivo swine studies were conducted during coronary artery occlusion and myocardial infarction.

Main Results:

• RA significantly increased within 1 minute of coronary artery occlusion (p < 0.05).
• Spontaneous ventricular tachycardia episodes were preceded by a significant increase in RA (p < 0.05).
• A custom ischemic index also showed significant increases preceding arrhythmias.

Conclusions:

• Repolarization alternans can be effectively estimated from surface ECGs using a smartphone platform.
• The cvrPhone system offers a user-friendly, mobile solution for detecting myocardial ischemia and arrhythmia susceptibility.