Identification of Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC) Caused by Disturbances in Calcium and Potassium Ion Concentrations Using Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

Abnormalities in the concentrations of metallic ions such as calcium and potassium can, in principle, lead to cardiac arrhythmias. Unbalance of these ions can alter the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Changes in the morphology of the ECG signal can occur due to changes in potassium concentration, and shortening or extension of this signal can occur due to calcium excess or deficiency, respectively. The diagnosis of these disorders can be complicated, making the modeling of such a system complex. In the present work an artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed as a model for pattern recognition of the ECG signal. The procedure can be, in principle, used to identify changes in the morphology of the ECG signal due to alterations in calcium and potassium concentrations. An arrhythmia database of a widely used experimental data was considered to simulate different ECG signals and also for training and validation of the methodology. The proposed approach can recognize premature ventricular contractions (PVC) arrhythmias, and tests were performed in a group of 47 individuals, showing significant quantitative results, on average, with 94% of confidence. The model was also able to detect ions changes and showed qualitative indications of what ion is affecting the ECG. These results indicate that the method can be efficiently applied to detect arrhythmias as well as to identify ions that may contribute to the development of cardiac arrhythmias. Accordingly, the actual approach might be used as an alternative tool for complex studies involving modifications in the morphology of the ECG signal associated with ionic changes.