Noninvasive cardiac therapy evaluation

A computer-implemented method for assisting in noninvasive evaluation of a patient for cardiac therapy, the method comprising:

• measuring surrogate cardiac electrical activation times using one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient and proximate the patient's heart, wherein the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times are representative of depolarization of cardiac tissue that propagates through the torso of the patient;
• measuring at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health using one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient and proximate the patient's heart;
• allowing a user to select one of an initial examination mode and a follow-up examination mode, wherein the initial examination mode is configured for assisting a user in noninvasively evaluating the patient for cardiac therapy and the follow-up examination mode is configured for assisting a user in noninvasively evaluating cardiac therapy after implantation of an implantable cardiac therapy device;
• when in the initial examination mode, simultaneously displaying, on a graphical user interface,
• a graphical depiction of a portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the portion of human anatomy based on noninvasively measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy that were noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device,
• at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device, and
• a likelihood of whether implantation of an implantable cardiac therapy device to deliver cardiac therapy to the patient would be beneficial based on noninvasive measurements using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient without use of an implantable device;
• and
• when in the follow-up examination mode, simultaneously displaying, on a graphical user interface,
• a graphical depiction of a first portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the first portion of human anatomy based on presently-measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the first human anatomy portion that were noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient,
• a graphical depiction of a second portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the second portion of human anatomy based on previously-measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the second human anatomy portion that were noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient,
• at least one presently-measured metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient,
• at least one previously-measured metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured using the one or more external surface electrodes proximate the skin of the patient, and
• an indication of whether cardiac therapy delivered to the patient using an implantable cardiac therapy device is beneficial.

A system for assisting in noninvasive evaluation of a patient for cardiac therapy comprising:

• means for measuring surrogate cardiac electrical activation times representative of the electrical activation times of a patient's heart from the patient's skin, wherein the surrogate cardiac electrical activation times are representative of depolarization of cardiac tissue that propagates through the torso of the patient;
• means for measuring at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health from the patient's skin;
• computing means for allowing a user to select one of an initial examination mode and a follow-up examination mode, wherein the initial examination mode is configured for assisting a user in noninvasively evaluating the patient for cardiac therapy and the follow-up examination mode is configured for assisting a user in noninvasively evaluating cardiac therapy after implantation of an implantable cardiac therapy device;
• and
• display means for, when in the initial examination mode, simultaneously displaying, on a graphical user interface,
• a graphical depiction of a portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the portion of human anatomy based on noninvasively measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the portion of human anatomy that were noninvasively measured from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device,
• at least one metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device, and
• a likelihood of whether implantation of an implantable cardiac therapy device to deliver cardiac therapy to the patient would be beneficial based on noninvasive measurements from the patient's skin without use of an implantable device, and
• when in the follow-up examination mode, simultaneously displaying, on a graphical user interface,
• a graphical depiction of a first portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the first portion of human anatomy based on presently-measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the first human anatomy portion that were noninvasively measured from the patient's skin,
• a graphical depiction of a second portion of human anatomy and a map of electrical activation about the second portion of human anatomy based on previously-measured surrogate cardiac electrical activation times about the second human anatomy portion that were noninvasively measured from the patient's skin,
• at least one presently-measured metric of the patient's cardiac health that was noninvasively measured from the patient's skin,
• at least one previously-measured metric of the patient's cardiac health that were noninvasively measured from the patient's skin, and
• an indication of whether cardiac therapy delivered to the patient using an implantable cardiac therapy device is beneficial.