Principal component analysis as a method of investigation of endocardial signals in acute myocardial ischemia

The clinical use of electromechanical mapping of the endocardium requires better understanding of the endocardial electrogram morphology. In this study, principal component analysis was used in order to identify the signal segments that change as a result of regional acute ischemia in a canine model. For each ischemic stage, (immediately, 5 hours and 3 days following ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery), parameters were defined as linear combinations of regional average principal components and were compared to Echo scores. It was found that the major changes occur in the depolarization segment of the signal as well as in the ST segment.