Fuzzy logic classification of fragmented cardiac myopotentials

Accurate localisation of arrhythmogenic origin is necessary for successful surgery on patients with ventricular arrhythmia's. At the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne a technique known as fragmentation mapping has been developed. The intrinsic advantage of fragmentation mapping is that if does not require ventricular tachycardia (VT) to be induced, as it is carried out in the sinus rhythm. Fragmentation mapping is normally based on subjective characterisation of cardiac myopotentials. These fragmented electrograms are an important feature of arrhythmogenic scar and have been used with moderate success to direct surgery (J.P. Bourke et al., 1989). Having previously addressed the problems of data acquisition and feature extraction (B.S. Sharif et al., 1993), the authors now discuss the use of a fuzzy logic classification technique as a more consistent alternative to subjective classification.