Ambulatory Monitoring for Transient Ischemic Episodes: Development of a Reference Database

Transient ischemic episodes are observable in ambulatory ECG recordings (Holter recordings), and in real-time patient monitoring in the hospital. Transient ischemia is manifested by a change in shape of the ST and T-wave segments of the ECG waveform. Developing software to automate the detection of transient ischemia, and to differentiate it from false-positive ST changes associated with changes in posture or heart-rate is a challenging engineering problem. In order to support such software development and testing, we are producing an extensive annotated database of digitized ECG signals containing transient ST changes. The final database will contain 70-90 24-hour 2-lead ECGs, in which heart beats, arrhythmias, and transient ST episodes will be identified and labeled by human experts. The project is an international collaboration involving our lab and groups in Italy and Slovenia.