Ventricular Late Potentials assessment based on amplitude and time alignments of heartbeats

Ventricular Late Potentials (VLPs) are important indicators of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people with a history of heart attack. Many algorithms for VLPs detection are based on quantifying increases in the QRS complex duration due to VLPs make QRS complexes larger. We took High Resolution ECGs from 50 individuals in resting position with no heart-attack antecedents and we simulated a VLPs database according to the American Heart association and the European Society of Cardiology. Two cases were evaluated: the QRS duration of complexes with VLPs simulated without QRS-alignment and QRS duration with VLPs using time and amplitude QRS-alignment prior application of Signal Averaging Electrocardiography (SAECG). Considering QRS duration as an indicative of VLPs presence, results show that using amplitude and time alignment it is possible to reach a sensitivity of 0.96 and a specificity of 0.3, as opposed to 0.72 and 0.40, respectively, using only SAECG.