Application of vectorcardiography and recurrence-based methods to analysis of ECG signals

¹ AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, Mickiewicz Alley 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
² AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, Department of Process Control, Mickiewicz Alley 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
³ AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, Department of Mining, Dressing and Transport Machines, Mickiewicz Alley 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland

^* Corresponding author: jiwaniec@agh.edu.pl

Abstract

The paper concerns application of vectorcardiography and recurrence-based methods to analyze ECG signals. The first method involves recording the direction and magnitude of electrical forces of the heart by means of a continuous series of vectors that form a curving line around a center, while the second consists in representing the ECG signals in the phase space and searching for the recurrence properties of the registered signals. In both methods, change of analysis domain offers new opportunities for early diagnosis. In this work, discussed methods have been used for the purposes of analysis of selected ECG signals stored in the medical database. Vectorcardiograms were determined on the basis of ECG signals for the Farnk's leads. Signal analysis was carried out with the application of the recurrence plots (RP) method. The proposed approach simplifies assessment of the signal information content by providing patterns characteristic for different myocardial injury. Carried out research requires complementation by results of statistical analysis for various age groups and degrees of myocardial injury.