The American Heart Association statistics show that cardiovascular disease is the No.1 killer in the U.S. beating the next 5 leading causes of death combined. Atrial cardiac arrhythmias, where the upper chambers of the heart are not able to collect the blood entering the heart and pump it to the lower chambers (ventricles) in a steady rhythm, are the most common cardiovascular problem.

Conventional cardiac diagnosis instruments which are noninvasive, such as traditional ECG (electrocardiogram), have limitations especially in obtaining accurate information about atrial cardiac rhythms especially if they occur during ventricular activity. Invasive methods of diagnosis involve looking in the heart itself for problems and are costly, risky and traumatic for patients.

In order to help diagnose these conditions sooner, Dr. Walt Besio, a biomedical engineer at Louisiana Tech, is developing a system which is significantly better than those available presently. He says that what excites him most about this project is that it could help save considerable pain and suffering of patients with cardiac disease.

Dr. Besio’s non-invasive Laplacian Electrocardiogram system uses special tripolar concentric electrode (TCE) Laplacian sensors which visually look quite simple compared to their name and ability to sense atrial activation patterns. As shown in preliminary human testing, these sensors relay information about timing and direction of the patterns of the heart even in the presence of ventricular activity.

When you combine the information relayed by the sensors with a computer and software designed to coordinate that information, the result is an easily interpreted graphical map that can tell the specific location of atrial arrhythmias. This quick, cost-effective map can help physicians identify the arrhythmia location before surgical intervention. The system can also assist the physician in evaluating whether cardiac therapy is working.

Currently, the project is progressing well with the hardware development almost complete and computer modeling well underway. The team has had support from numerous collaborators as well as Cathion, LLC, which is a cardiovascular and neurosurgical device and instruments manufacturer who has helped with funding and access to their equipment and facilities for making the sensors.

The system is working well, but like most medical devices still needs some refinement. However, the team is now looking for an active cardiologist interested in research to help finalize testing of the mapping system on patients with heart disease. With dedicated work and assistance, this promising new medical device could be available in the next few years or even sooner. For the sake of heart patients everywhere, let’s hope for sooner.