Dataset Information

Mechanism and magnitude of bipolar electrogram directional sensitivity: Characterizing underlying determinants of bipolar amplitude.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The amplitude of bipolar electrograms (EGMs) is directionally sensitive, decreasing when measured from electrode pairs oriented oblique to a propagating wavefront.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to use a computational model and clinical data to establish the mechanism and magnitude of directional sensitivity.

Methods

Simulated EGMs were created using a computational model with electrode pairs rotated relative to a passing wavefront. A clinical database of 18,740 EGMs with varying electrode separation and orientations was recorded from the left atrium of 10 patients with atrial fibrillation during pacing. For each EGM, the angle of incidence between the electrodes and the wavefront was measured using local conduction velocity (CV) mapping.

Results

A theoretical model was derived describing the effect of the changing angle of incidence, electrode spacing, and CV on the local activation time difference between a pair of electrodes. Model predictions were validated using simulated and clinical EGMs. Bipolar amplitude measured by an electrode pair is decreased (directionally sensitive) at angles of incidence resulting in local activation time differences shorter than unipolar downstroke duration. Directional sensitivity increases with closer electrode spacing, faster CV, and longer unipolar EGM duration. For narrowly spaced electrode pairs (<5 mm), it is predicted at all orientations.

Conclusion

Directional sensitivity occurs because bipolar amplitude is reduced when the component unipolar EGMs overlap, such that neither electrode is "indifferent." At the electrode spacing of clinical catheters, this is predicted to occur regardless of catheter orientation. This suggests that bipolar directional sensitivity can be lessened but not overcome by recently introduced catheters with additional rotated electrode pairs.

SUBMITTER: Gaeta S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8183728 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Localized changes in myocardial conduction velocity (CV) are pro-arrhythmic, but high-resolution mapping of local CV is not yet possible during clinical electrophysiology procedures. This is in part because measurement of local CV at small spatial scales (1 mm) requires accurate annotation of local activation time (LAT) differences with very high temporal resolution (≤1 ms), beyond that of standard clinical methods. We sought to develop a method for high-resolution measurement of LAT differences and validate against existing techniques. First, we use a simplified theoretical model to identify a quantitative relationship between the LAT difference of a pair of electrodes and the peak amplitude of the bipolar EGM measured between them. This allows LAT differences to be calculated from bipolar EGM peak amplitude, by a novel "Determination of EGM Latencies by Transformation of Amplitude" (DELTA) method. Next, we use simulated EGMs from a computational model to validate this method. With 1 kHz sampling, LAT differences less than 4 ms were more accurately measured with DELTA than by standard LAT annotation (mean error 3.8% vs. 22.9%). In a 1-dimensional and a 2-dimension model, CV calculations were more accurate using LAT differences found by the DELTA method than by standard LAT annotation (by unipolar dV/dt timing). DELTA-derived LAT differences were more accurate than standard LAT annotation in simulated complex fractionated EGMs from a model incorporating fibrosis. Finally, we validated the DELTA method in vivo using 18,740 bipolar EGMs recorded from the left atrium of 10 atrial fibrillation patients undergoing catheter ablation. Using clinical EGMs, there was agreement in LAT differences found by DELTA, standard LAT annotation, and unipolar waveform cross-correlation. These results demonstrate an underlying relationship between a bipolar EGM's peak amplitude and the activation time difference between its two electrodes. Our computational modeling and clinical results suggest this relationship can be leveraged clinically to improve measurement accuracy for small LAT differences, which may improve CV measurement at small spatial scales.