Kenichi Doniwa

Body surface potential mapping — its application to animal experiments and clinical examinations

Potential distributions of electrocardiogram (ECG) on the body surface had already been drawn schematically with the isopotential lines supposing an electromotive force of the heart as the single dipole in as early as 1888 by Waller [19]. However, for its practical application in a clinical environment a computer was indispensable to collect electrocardiographic signals from numerous spots on the body surface and to process them to derive isopotential contour lines. This has developed in accordance with progress of the computer technology [11, 12]. Particularly in the 1970’s a clinically applicable system was devised as a result of the advanced development of microcomputers. Here we take as an example the most frequently used mapping system in Japan, developed by us, and discribe its outlines as well as its application to experimental studies and clinical examinations.