Matching heart problems to electrical readings on ECGs

Predicting myocardial architecture and electrophysiological function from electrogram morphology

Professor Nicholas Peters and his colleagues at Imperial College London are working out how the electrical readings on ECGs (electrocardiograms) relate to underlying heart damage, so that doctors may be better able to diagnose heart problems. Doctors use an ECG to measure the electrical signals from people’s hearts and identify diseased areas of heart that need to be treated. Unusual shaped electrical signals on the ECG trace show there is an abnormality. But we do not know what specific problems in heart cells cause different abnormal electrical signals, so it is difficult to use these traces to guide treatments. In this project, Professor Peters will work out how different heart cell abnormalities affect the electrical signals recorded from the heart. He will use these results to develop computer simulations, which will allow a better understanding of the underlying causes of different types of electrical signal abnormalities, and how changes in the structure of the heart affect the ECG reading. This research will help us understand how faulty electrical signals in individual cells and areas of the heart display on an ECG trace. This will help doctors diagnose heart problems and guide decisions on which treatments their patients need.