Abstract

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) are lift-threatening cardiac arrhythmias that could be catastrophic if no defibrillation shock is applied to the subject within a few minutes. Correct and prompt detection of these shockable rhythms and preparedness to intervene with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and especially the delivery of an electrical shock are potentially lifesaving. The automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which detect these shockable rhythms without interpretation of the electrocardiogram by qualified medical personnel, enable early defibrillation and increase the survival rate of cardiac arrest in out-of-hospital conditions. Hence it is of vital importance that VF/VT detection algorithms used by AEDs differentiate well between shockable and non-shockable rhythms. This paper reviews recent published patents in algorithms used for VF/VT detection. The advantages and efficacy of different algorithms are also compared and discussed. The new techniques presented demonstrate increased efficacy, accuracy and ability to detect VF/VT during uninterrupted CPR.

Keywords: Shockable rhythm, detection algorithm, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, automatic external defibrillators, Tachycardia Detection, Automated External Defibrillators, Medical Imaging, CPR, non-shockable rhythms