High Sensitivity ECG Device Screens for Heart Disease

A low-cost electrocardiograph (ECG) screening device uses advanced signal processing technology to improve the early detection of heart disease.

The MyoVista high sensitivity electrocardiograph (hsECG) testing device, a product of HeartSciences (Westlake, TX, USA), provides clinicians with a detailed visualization of the electrical and structural function of the heart by analyzing energy distribution during the cardiac cycle. Analysis is based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) signal processing technology, an advanced algorithm that has also revolutionized other early detection and predictive accuracy applications, such as weather forecasting.

MyoVista hsECG uses the same 12-lead, at-rest testing protocol as traditional ECG devices, but beyond conventional ECG interpretive analysis and tracingd, it can also provide unique informatics that can help identify cardiac dysfunction related to coronary artery disease (CAD), structural disease, and arrhythmia. During a 200-patient validation trial, the device detected left ventricular dysfunction in the diastolic phase of the cardiac cycle with 88% sensitivity and 87% specificity. MyoVista hsECG has received the European Community CE mark of approval.

“The application of advanced signal processing technology can assist in closing the diagnostic gap by providing a low-cost, front-line tool which can assist in the early detection of cardiac dysfunction,” said Partho Sengupta, MD, lead investigator of the MyoVista clinical trial and chief of cardiology at West Virginia University (Morgantown, USA). “High sensitivity ECG technology holds significant promise for improving the detection of heart disease.”

“It makes sense to use advanced signal processing to create a modern, low-cost, front-line tool to detect heart disease,” said Mark Hilz, CEO of HeartSciences. “While MyoVista represents a first-of-its-kind application to electrocardiographic testing, advanced signal processing has already enabled key imaging technologies such as computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, Doppler echo-cardiography, and positron emission tomography scans.”

ECG technology, which functions essentially the same way as when first introduced in 1903, is the front-line screening tool currently used by physicians to detect heart disease. But conventional resting ECG technology detects CAD less than 50% of the time, which leaves a large number of patients who have heart disease undiagnosed. As a result, current healthcare guidance does not recommend use of ECG testing on asymptomatic patients.

Related Links:
HeartSciences
West Virginia University