3-dimensional activation sequence reconstruction from body surface potential maps by means of a heart-model-based imaging approach

In the present study, a heart-model-based imaging approach was applied to the rabbit heart, and 3-D cardiac activation sequences were estimated noninvasively from body surface potential maps during in vivo ventricular pacing from different sites. The estimated activation sequences exhibited earliest sites of cardiac activation and patterns of activation that were consistent with those constructed from 3-D activation sequences obtained from simultaneously recorded bipolar electrogram data (from nearly 160 intramural recording sites). The relative errors between the imaged and measured activation sequences were 0.291±0.009 for the cases studied. The present study suggests that the heart-model-based imaging approach represents an important alternative for noninvasive imaging of cardiac activation that could be useful for basic cardiovascular research and for the diagnosis and management of cardiac diseases.