METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA

摘要

There are many different serious cardiac arrhythmias. The present invention uses measurements of RR intervals (interbeat intervals) to detect, in particular but not exclusively, atrial fibrillation of a patient. Atrial fibrilation is a serious ailment in which the heartbeat is generally rapid and irregular. Probability density histograms of DELTA RRs (difference between two successive RR intervals) collected during atrial fibrillation of a plurality of subjects are used as a template for the detection of atrial fibrillation. In one implementation, there are 16 standard probability density DELTA RRs histograms every 50 ms of mean RR interval of a certain number of beats, where the mean RR interval ranges from 350 ms to 1149 ms. Similarity between the standard probability density histograms and a test density probability histogram of DELTA RRs of a patient is estimated by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. If the test density histogram is not significantly different from the standard density histogram, atrial fibrillation is detected.