The High Resolution Electrocardiogram (HRECG) is used to detect Ventricular Late Potentials (VLPs) in post-myocardial infarction patients. VLPs are low-amplitude, high-frequency signals that are usually found within the terminal part of the QRS complex. The aim of this research was to develop possible alternative methods and improve existing methods of detecting VLP activity. There are two main topics in this work: applications of the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) and the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to the HRECG. For the CWT application, a Fractionation Factor (FF) method proposed by previous work was further investigated and improved by combining the CWT and DWT for distinction between patients with and those without VLPs. A Differential Fractionation Factor was proposed as an alternative approach to the FF with better results. Observation in the time-scale plot showed a difference in the energy distribution. A 2-dimensional Fractionation Factor was proposed to quantify this difference. A new concept of local intermittency was investigated to exhibit energy nonuniformity and then a Local Intermittency Factor was developed to quantify the degree of nonuniformity. The energy computed with the CWT was also used for patient distinction. Patients with VLPs may be also characterised by a slow rate of energy decay. The CWT can reveal a difference in ECG irregularity between the patients. A new approach of approximate entropy was implemented to quantify this irregularity. For the DWT application, the DWT can reveal irregularity of VLP activity and it was quantified by the approximate entropy to identify patients with VLPs. The wavelet entropy was utilised as an alternative method to the FF. The energy computed with the DWT was used for patient classification. The potentially promising results of both the CWT and DWT applications were obtained from the methods of computing the energy and approximate entropy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:288618 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Bunluechokchai, Sonthaya |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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