Ischemia identification, quantification and partial localization MCG

A method for ischemic cardiac tissue identification and localization based upon a magnetic or current dipole model of the heart, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) magnetically measuring a cardiac cycle of a heart and modeling said heart as an effective dipole;
• (b) identifying an ST segment in said measured cardiac cycle;
• (c) identifying a spatial location of said dipole at the beginning of said ST segment;
• (d) detecting any significant displacement in the location of said dipole during the remainder of said ST segment;
• (e) identifying said significant displacement of said effective dipole with the presence of ischemic tissue in the heart, and
• (f) referencing the direction of said significant displacement of said effective dipole with respect to heart's general location and anatomy, and
• (g) localizing the general location of said ischemic cardiac tissue as being pointed to by said identified direction of displacement of said effective dipole.

A method for identifying, localizing and quantifying ischemia, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving cardiac cycle magnetic data and modeling said heart as a dipole;
• (b) identifying an ST segment in said measured cardiac cycle;
• (c) identifying said dipole's position at the beginning of said identified ST segment;
• (d) determining whether said dipole significantly moves during any part of the ST segment;
• (e) identifying the direction of said movement of said dipole's position in reference to the general position and anatomy of the heart;
• (f) localizing ischemic cardiac tissue based upon said identified direction of displacement;
• (g) dividing the total time duration of said ST segment into four equal duration sub-segments;
• (h) identifying significant displacement of said dipole in each of said four subsegments, and
• (i) assigning a quantified level of ischemia based on the following rules:
• if said identified significant displacement occurs in a first of said four segments, then identify said quantified level as first degree ischemia, else
• if said identified significant displacement occurs in a first two of said sub-segments, then identify said quantified level as second degree ischemia, else
• if said identified significant displacement occurs in a first three of said sub-segments, then identify said quantified level as third degree ischemia, else
• if said identified significant displacement occurs in all four of said sub-segments, then identify said quantified level as fourth degree ischemia.

An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for localizing ischemic cardiac tissue, said medium further comprising:

• (a) computer readable program code receiving magnetic cardiac cycle data of a heart and modeling said heart as a dipole;
• (b) computer readable program code identifying an ST segment in said measured cardiac cycle;
• (c) computer readable program code identifying said dipole's position at the beginning of said ST segment;
• (d) computer readable program code detecting any significant displacement in the location of said dipole during the rest of said ST segment;
• (e) computer readable program code identifying the direction of said displacement of said dipole with respect to heart's general outline and anatomy, and
• (f) computer readable program code localizing ischemic cardiac tissue based upon said identified direction of displacement.

A tool for detecting and localizing ischemic cardiac tissue and quantifying level of ischemia in afflicted cardiac tissue, said tool comprising:

• measuring magnetic cardiac cycle data of a heart and modeling said data based upon a magnetic dipole model of said heart;
• isolating an ST segment in said cardiac cycle data;
• identifying said dipole's position at a proximate point on said isolated ST segment;
• said tool further functioning in any of, or a combination of, the following modes:
• a detection and localizing mode or quantifying mode, and
• in a localizing mode, said tool:
• detecting dipole's displacement during a remainder of said ST segment;
• identifying direction of said displacement, and
• localizing ischemic cardiac tissue as heart's region in said identified direction of displacement,
• or
• in a quantifying mode, said tool:
• identifying dipole's displacement during said ST segment;
• dividing said ST segment into two or more sub-segments;
• identifying number of said sub-segments where said dipole's displacement occurs, and
• quantifying level of ischemia by matching said identified number of said sub-segments where said displacement occurs with predetermined quantification levels.