Rejection of far-field activity by tripolar electrodes

Accurate and rapid rhythm classification is a problem is designing devices for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Spatially discriminating electrodes detect the electrical activation of the tissue in their neighborhood while rejecting both artificial and natural artifacts from elsewhere. Tripolar (3-P), bipolar (2-P) and unipolar (1-P) configurations of epicardial concentric ring electrodes were studied in vivo for normal sinus (NSR) and ventricularly paced rhythms from different sites. The electrodes were fabricated from nested conductive and insulating tubes.