Signal and image processing methods for studying human ventricular fibrillation

心脏是一个多功能的机电器官，由其内部自主产生的有节奏的电脉冲驱动。当心脏的发电或传导系统发生故障或发生疾病时，心脏会颤抖，伴随着蠕动和混乱的收缩，导致重要器官的血液循环无效或停止。这种医学状况通常被称为心律失常。当这种情况发生在心室（心脏的下腔室负责排出血液）时，就会发生严重的医疗状况，称为心室颤动（VF）。VF，如果在其发生的几分钟内不治疗，会导致心脏性猝死（SCD）。每年在北美报告约350，000个SCD（其中45，000个在加拿大，即每12分钟一个SCD），其中大部分与VF相关。尽管它的重要性，和积极的研究超过100年，人类VF背后的机制仍然是难以捉摸的，因为非静态的性质的过程和伦理/实践的限制，在研究人类VF。

The heart is a versatile electro-mechanical organ that is driven by autonomously generated rhythmic electrical pulses within it. When the electrical generation or conduction system of the heart malfunctions or is diseased, the heart quivers with arrhythmic and chaotic contractions, resulting in ineffective or cessation of blood circulation to vital organs. This medical condition in general is termed as cardiac arrhythmia. When this happens in the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart responsible for pushing out blood), a serious medical condition called ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurs. VF, if untreated within minutes of its occurrence, leads to sudden cardiac death (SCD). Every year in North America about 350,000 SCDs (with 45,000 of them in Canada, i.e. an SCD every 12 minutes) are reported, most of which are VF related. In spite of its importance, and active research over 100 years, the mechanism behind human VF is still elusive because of the non-stationary nature of the process and ethical/practical limitations in studying human VF.