Visualization in cardiac mapping of ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation

The authors have developed a visualization method that aids in visualizing cardiac activation sequences before and after a defibrillation shock and in visualizing the associated extrinsic potentials and potential gradients generated by the shock. The examples are taken from studies designed to explore these types of phenomena. This method is used to visualize the results of mapping studies and operates by superimposing values of electrical variables on realistic three-dimensional renderings of cardiac anatomy. The system consists of a user interface that allows an investigator with basic programming skills to specify transformations of multivariate volume data to color and opacity values for volume rendering. The environment allows and encourages exploration of complex data by providing a convenient method for the application of different transformation algorithms.<>