The surface Laplacian of the potential: theory and application

Author

Oostendorp, Thom F. ; Van Oosterom, Adriaan

Author_Institution

Lab. of Med. Phys. & Biophys., Nijmegen Univ., Netherlands

Volume

43

Issue

4

fYear

1996

fDate

4/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

394

Lastpage

405

Abstract

The use of the surface Laplacian of the potential (L_s) in bioelectricity is discussed. Different estimates of L_s, in particular the field measured by coaxial electrodes, are compared to that of the true Laplacian. A method to compute L_s on the surface of an inhomogeneous volume conductor of arbitrary shape resulting from assumed electrical sources is introduced. In two applications the sensitivity of the body surface Laplacian is compared to that of body surface potentials. This comparison is carried out for dipolar sources within the human brain as well as for distributed sources within the heart.

Keywords

Laplace equations; bioelectric potentials; electrocardiography; electroencephalography; surface potential; arbitrary shape; assumed electrical sources; bioelectricity; coaxial electrodes; distributed sources; heart; human brain; inhomogeneous volume conductor; potential surface Laplacian; Bioelectric phenomena; Coaxial components; Conductors; Electric potential; Electrodes; Humans; Laplace equations; Nonuniform electric fields; Particle measurements; Shape; Body Surface Potential Mapping; Electrocardiography; Electrodes; Electroencephalography; Humans; Models, Cardiovascular; Models, Neurological; Sensitivity and Specificity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9294

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/10.486259

Filename

486259