Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme
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DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 46: Poster
DY 46.17: Poster
Thursday, March 11, 2004, 16:00–18:00, Poster D
Characterisation of atrial fibrillation by analysis of ECG records — •Th. Hennig1, A. Heinen2, St. Heinrichs2, D. Jäger3, and Ph. Maass1 — 1Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany — 2Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz, Germany — 3Medizinische Klinik II – Kardiologie, Städtisches Krankenhaus Friedrichshafen, 88048 Friedrichshafen
We investigate the heartbeat of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), which is a cardiac arrhythmia where the normal pacemaking by the sinus node is dysfunctional. The analysis of AF mechanisms and characteristics is an important task, since it allows one to decide for the right diagnosis and to improve possible therapies. Because standard ECG records taken in hospitals are influenced by many different processes, it is difficult to extract information from the ECG, which is particularly sensitive to AF. We present novel methods to tackle this problem by employing time series analysis and modeling, where AF is described by a stationary process of irregular electrical excitations and the ventricular excitations result from certain properties of the AV node. Our techniques allow us to identify physiological parameters that otherwise can only be determined invasively.