US 6,983,183 B2
Method and apparatus for monitoring cardiac patients for T-wave alternans
Srikanth Thiagarajan, Tustin, Calif. (US); and Dongping Lin, Irvine, Calif. (US)
Assigned to Cardiac Science, Inc., Irvine, Calif. (US)
Filed on Jul. 13, 2001, as Appl. No. 9/904,914.
Prior Publication US 2003/0060724 A1, Mar. 27, 2003
Int. Cl. A61B 5/04 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 600—509 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for detecting TWA in potential cardiac patients comprising:
a sensor adapted to sense an ECG from a patient;
a T wave detector adapted to detect a plurality of T waves in said ECG;
an analyzer adapted to perform at least one of a statistical test tests and a periodicity transform on characteristics of said T waves to make a decision on whether TWA are present or not; and
a template generator adapted to generate a template for said T waves based on the characteristics of a plurality of T waves;
wherein said analyzer is adapted to determine said characteristic for a plurality of consecutive T waves to form a series, said analyzer being adapted to operate on said series; and to perform at least one of the following statistical tests: difference in means, adjacent values, Raleigh and number of zero crossings
wherein said T wave detector is adapted to detect at least one of the following T wave characteristics: peak value, area under the T wave, curvature, ST segment slope, and area of smaller T wave segments.