An ECG analysis interactive training system for understanding arrhythmias

Abstract

The ECG remains a daily diagnostic tool for the detection of numerous cardiovascular diseases. Our goal was to use a computerized qualitative model (QM) of heart in order to build cases of simple arrhythmias dedicated to initial and more advanced medical teaching. The original QM is able to generate videograms of many cardiac disturbances. A Flash player is used to view ECG, synchronous Lewis diagram and chromatic 2D cardiac animation of a specific case. OAAT is a standardized 18 yes/no answers questionnaire which allows the learner to diagnose five main types of arrhythmias that can be compared with normal sinus rhythm (NSR) analysis. This new tool has been recently used by medical students during practical sessions. Based on medical reasoning learning on NSR video and upon trying to recognize an abnormal cardiac rhythm, all users can reach the 100% winning score since they can perform as many attempts as they like. We believe that unlimited case review with questionnaire answering, ECG and Lewis diagram replay and step-by-step visualization of the abnormal propagation of the cardiac impulse on the 2D heart videos are a highly efficient means to help students understand even complex arrhythmic mechanisms.