Method of and apparatus for displaying and analyzing a physiological signal

A method of displaying a representation of a physiological signal produced by an organ of interest of the patient, the method comprising the acts of:

• obtaining a portion of at least one physiological signal acquired from the exterior of the patient, including the act of reading the at least one physiological signal from a memory device;
• determining an area to display;
• constructing a virtual image including (M) polygonal areas;
• transforming the obtained signal to a plurality of values;
• assigning each value to one of the (M) polygonal areas;
• assigning a visual characteristic to each polygonal area based in part on the assigned values;
• and
• displaying at least a portion of the virtual image including the assigned visual characteristics.

A method of displaying a representation of an electrocardiogram (ECG), the method comprising the acts of:

• obtaining at least a portion of a multi-lead ECG acquired from the patient's exterior;
• determining an area to display;
• constructing a virtual image including (M) polygonal areas;
• transforming the obtain portion of the multi-lead ECG to (M) values;
• assigning each value to one of the (M) polygonal areas, the assigning act resulting in each polygonal area having one of the (M) values;
• assigning a visual characteristic to each polygonal area based in part on the assigned values;
• and
• displaying at least a portion of the virtual image including the assigned visual characteristics.