A new method to compute T Wave Alternans

Abstract

The percentage of death worldwide is still the highest for cardiovascular problems. More than 50% of all cardiac deaths are due to sudden cardiac death. Despite all the work done to decrease this increasing number, identifying patients at highest risk for sudden cardiac death is still of concern. Noninvasive Microvolt T Wave Alternans test using electrocardiographic signals would be an ideal diagnostic test for stratifying the risk of sudden cardiac death in a larger group in the society. On the other hand, at present MTWA test is not reliable enough to be used for clinical decision making unless its low positive predictive value would be increased as is published by several recent studies on what should be done to save MTWA test. Another disadvantage of the present MTWA algorithms is the high number of indeterminate tests achieved. In this paper the proposed algorithm is aimed to enhance the low positive predictive value and reduce the number of indeterminate tests achieved in clinical studies.