Atrial Fibrillation from an Engineering Perspective provides an up-to-date overview of techniques developed for acquisition, modeling, and analysis of noninvasive, bioelectrical signals reflecting this common arrhythmia. Special emphasis is put on emerging technologies for monitoring of atrial fibrillation in connection with ischemic stroke, interventional ablation procedures, and pharmacological treatment, applications which all depend on the availability of techniques for detecting and characterizing episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Detectors exploring both rhythm and morphology are described, as well as detectors confined to rhythm and better suited for low power implementation. A wide variety of approaches to modeling and characterization of atrial activity are described, emanating from a statistical and deterministic starting points. This book is suitable for graduate students, researchers, and engineers who want a comprehensive treatise of atrial fibrillation from an engineering perspective. It may be used for self-study, as a supplement to courses in signal processing, or as a modern monograph by researchers in the field of atrial fibrillation.

The prevalence of atrial fibrillation has increased significantly. Several focal areas within the heart which trigger atrial fibrillation have been identified by physicians. There are a number of ways to lessen and treat atrial fibrillation. Ablating the focal areas is one of the therapies to alleviate or stop the symptoms, especially using radiofrequency as an energy source to perform the ablation. Before performing the radiofrequency ablation, an electrophysiologist needs to acquire cardiac information in as much detail as possible. This information includes heart surface geometry, electrical activation sequences, electrical activities times and volumes, etc. A successful radiofrequency ablation requires precise cardiac geometry reconstruction and accurate focal areas localization. A number of novel computer-aided 3-dimension cardiac reconstruction mapping technologies are able to integrate with Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and body surface ECG to provide comprehensive cardiac anatomical structures and information to users during the overall ablation procedure. These cardiac mapping systems also provide real-time cardiac information to operators and identify the complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAEs) for ablation purposes. The principles of fluoroscopy-based cardiac images heart surface reconstruction are reviewed. An optimization algorithm (Hill climbing algorithm) is introduced to approach and identify the CFAEs.

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Part I / Introduction to Atrial Fibrillation: From Mechanisms to Treatment / Time Domain Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Activity Extraction from the ECG / Time-Frequency Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial Fibrillation: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Patient Outcomes, provides a current and comprehensive update on path physiology, epidemiology, management strategies of rate control, pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to rhythm control, risk stratification for stroke and bleeding, anticoagulant therapy, and left atrial occlusion devices. The contributions by experienced internists, cardiologists, electrophysiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pharmacists, internists, nurse practitioners, and nurse educators provide a unique perspective. Case studies of paroxysmal, persistent, and permanent atrial provide clinical context incorporating recent evidence and best practices for the multidisciplinary approach to improving patient outcomes. “The physician is inundated with information, and needs all of this to be reduced and summarized in a readable form. This cannot be done simply by technical editing because it involves real expertise to pick the “jewels for the crown.” This has been accomplished so well by the authors who have contributed to this book. The result is a gem — a source of enlightenment for all the many clinicians who care for patients suffering from this ubiquitous arrhythmia. I read it from cover to cover in about three hours, and learned much which is new and useful to my practice. It is the best small book that I know dealing with this big subject.” -From the foreword by A. John Camm, MD

A new guide to the mechanisms and principles behind the world’s most common abnormal heart rhythm Affecting 30 million or more people across the globe, atrial fibrillation is one of the most prevalent – and yet misapprehended – issues facing modern cardiology. Its potential causes and optimal treatment strategies are matters of some conjecture in the medical community, where ongoing research has yielded findings that can prove challenging to those not familiar with the complex physiology at the root of the condition. Recognizing these concerns, distinguished electrophysiologist Peter Spector has designed Understanding Atrial Fibrillation as a means by which to equip clinicians with the data and analytic tools needed to develop a better grasp of this arrhythmia’s full nature. The book begins by providing a detailed explanation of atrial fibrillation’s causal mechanisms and builds its exploration from there. Working toward an up-to-date knowledge of the mapping and ablation of atrial fibrillation, its chapters assess the experimental data that has shaped current thoughts on the condition and then outline the best methods with which to interpret that rich but potentially difficult information. This revelatory new guide: Explores hypotheses of multiple drivers and mechanisms co-existing in individual patients Addresses common misperceptions and inaccurate views about atrial fibrillation Describes the basic physiology of atrial fibrillation’s propagation and reentry Explores the various mechanisms and higher-order dynamics of fibrillation Discusses how to intervene and alter atrial physiology to prevent fibrillation Understanding Atrial Fibrillation is truly an invaluable resource for physicians, fellows, residents, electrophysiology lab staff, and all other practitioners involved in the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation.

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Analysis of Ventricular Response During Atrial Fibrillation / Organization Measures of Atrial Activity During Fibrillation / Modeling Atrial Fibrillation: From Myocardial Cells to ECG / Algorithms for Atrial Tachyarrythmia Detection for Long-Term Monitoring with Implantable Devices

This case will explore atrial fibrillation from several perspectives, including the underlying physiology, clinical relevance, and instrumentation used for diagnosis and therapy. Students will identify and investigate unmet clinical needs that led to recent developments in technologies to treat atrial fibrillation.