Method and system for processing electrocardial signals

An apparatus for processing electrocardiogram (ECG) signals in order to identify a possible abnormality of heart function of a patient, the apparatus comprising:

• an extractor for extracting data from at least one ECG signal;
• a differentiator for determining a time derivative of said data;
• an index value generator for generating a normalised index value representative of energy in said time derivative;
• means for comparing said normalised index value with a mean value calculated as a numerical average of a plurality of prior normalised index values generated from ECG signal data of the patient gathered over a plurality of prior time periods, to ascertain whether the normalised index value lies within a range between an upper bound value greater than said mean value and a lower bound value less than said mean value and,
• if the normalised index value is below said range, identifying a possible abnormality of heart function of the patient;
• and
• if the normalised index value is above said range, identifying a possible abnormality of heart function of the patient;
• and
• means for outputting a result of said comparing to one or more of a memory device, a display, or a remote apparatus accessible via a communications network.

A method of identifying possible abnormalities of heart function of a patient comprising:

• extracting data from each of a plurality of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals of said patient gathered over a plurality of respective time periods;
• determining a plurality of respective time derivatives of said extracted data;
• generating a plurality of respective normalised index values representative of the energy in said time derivatives;
• comparing said normalised index values over said plurality of time periods to identify possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient,
• wherein said step of comparing includes calculating a mean value as a numerical average of said normalised index values, calculating an upper bound value which is greater than said mean value, and calculating a lower bound value which is less than said mean value, ascertaining whether each of said normalised index values lies within a range between said upper and lower bound values;
• and
• a) if the normalised index value is below said range, identifying possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient;
• b) if the normalised index value is above said range, identifying possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient;
• and
• outputting a result of said comparing to one or more of a memory device, a display, or a remote apparatus accessible via a communications network.

A system for identifying possible abnormalities of heart function of a patient comprising:

• an extractor for extracting data from each of a plurality of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals of said patient gathered over a plurality of respective time periods;
• a differentiator for determining a plurality of respective time derivatives of said extracted data;
• an index value generator for generating a plurality of respective normalised index values representative of the energy in said time derivatives;
• comparing means for comparing said normalised index values over said plurality of time periods to identify possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient,
• wherein said comparing means is configured to calculate a mean value as a numerical average of said normalised index values, to calculate an upper bound value which is greater than said mean value, and to calculate a lower bound value which is less than said mean value, to ascertain whether each of said normalised index values lies within a range between said upper and lower bound values and, if the normalised index value is below the range, to identify possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient and, if the normalised index is above the range, to identify possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient;
• and
• means for outputting a result of said comparing to one or more of a memory device, a display, or a remote apparatus accessible via a communications network.

A system for processing electrocardiogram (ECG) signals of a patient comprising:

• a server computer system configured to receive digitized ECG signals over a data network, and including a processor configured to perform the steps of:
• extracting data from at least one ECU signal;
• determining a time derivative of said extracted data;
• generating a normalised index value representative of the energy in said time derivative;
• and
• comparing said normalised index value with a mean value calculated as a numerical average a plurality of prior normalised index values generated from ECG signal data of the patient gathered over a plurality of prior time periods,
• wherein said step of comparing comprises ascertaining whether the normalised index value lies within a range between an upper bound value greater than said mean value and a lower bound value less than said mean value, and, if the normalised index value is below said range, identifying a possible abnormality of heart function of the patient and, if the normalised index value is above the range, to identify possible abnormalities of heart function of said patient;
• and wherein the system further comprises a database associated with said server for storing said normalised index values and/or digitized ECU signals in a data record of said patient.

A system for gathering electrocardiogram (ECU) signals of a patient for processing, said system comprising:

• ECG apparatus for monitoring and digitizing ECU signals of said patient;
• and
• a client computer system configured to receive digitized ECG signals from said ECG apparatus, and to transmit said digitized ECG signals over a data network to a server computer system,
• said server including a processor configured to perform the steps of:
• extracting data from said digitized ECG signal;
• determining a time derivative of said extracted data;
• generating a normalised index value representative of the energy in said time derivative;
• comparing said normalised index value with a mean value calculated as a numerical average of a plurality of prior normalised index values generated from ECG signal data of the patient gathered over a plurality of prior time periods,
• wherein said step of comparing comprises ascertaining whether the normalised index value lies within a range between an upper bound value greater than said mean value, and a lower bound value less than said mean value wherein if the normalised index value is below said range a possible abnormality of heart function of the patient is identified, and wherein if the normalised index value is above said range a possible abnormality of heart function is identified;
• and
• outputting a result of said comparing to one or more of a memory device, a display, or a remote apparatus accessible via a communications network.