Algorithms for detecting cardiac arrhythmia and methods and apparatuses utilizing the algorithms

An apparatus for detecting a cardiac arrhythmia from an electrocardiogram, comprising:

• a processor that is coupled to receive the electrocardiogram, and is configured in response thereof to perform a series of wave morphology analysis steps, comprising:
• identifying a plurality of wave patterns that are repeated in the electrocardiogram during a predetermined time interval, each wave pattern being indicative of an individual heartbeat;
• extracting a heartbeat complex that corresponds to each of the identified wave patterns;
• identifying a key region within each heartbeat complex that is morphologically altered in the event of the cardiac arrhythmia;
• calculating a statistical measurement of an ensemble of the key regions from each of the heartbeat complexes;
• and
• determining from the statistical measurement whether the cardiac arrhythmia occurred during the predetermined time interval.