Modified Limb Lead ECG system for the study of atrial components

In general Electrocardiography has been focusing its interest on the entire cardiac cycle and specifically on the ventricular activity. Ventricular arrhythmia's and disorders have been studied extensively because of their acute severity. Disorders and arrhythmia's related to atria on the other hand have not been focused until recently. The expression of the atrial depolarization (P wave) observable on the standard 12-lead ECG is so small and the atrial repolarization (Ta wave) has not been observed and recorded in the standard 12-lead ECG usually as the much larger QRS complex obscures it. For this reason the Ta wave is seldom observed in the standard ECG except few abnormal conditions. Although the usefulness of the standard 12-lead ECG is proven by the history the actual lead system is not optimal for studying the atrial ECG components in detail. This research work mainly aims at enhancing the atrial P wave and to record the atrial Ta wave on the body surface potentials. A novel modified limb electrode placement which produces a Modified Limb Lead (MLL) system is designed specifically for studying the characteristics of the atrial P and Ta wave morphology in detail.