Impaired Body Surface Electrode Contact Reduces Accuracy of Non-Invasive Electrocardiographic Imaging

This study examines the impact of torso electrode contact on potential (MFS) and activation (EDL) based inverse methods. Inverse reconstructions were computed for simulated pacing data before and after reduction of a single torso potential's amplitude. Potential reduction severely impacted MFS reconstruction accuracy creating small areas of inverted electrograms and large activation errors near the electrode affected. The impact was more subtle for EDL, keeping the general activation pattern but creating artificial regions of slowed conduction.