Abstract
This report describes a method by which the concepts of the lead vector and the lead field may be extended to include equivalent cardiac singularities above the first order. The theoretical treatment results in generalization of the well-known lead vector principle into a lead tensor apparatus. The specific electrocardiographic contribution of annth order multipole is found to be the product of annth rank contravariant (“heart”) tensor by a covariant (“lead”) tensor of the same rank, and with identical indices. Methods are also described whereby lead tensor components may be cast into a form which relates them directly to the more usual, spherical harmonic notation of multipolar current generators. Some attention is devoted to the possibility of applying lead tensors to biomedical problems, particularly to the prospect of quantitatively evaluating the significant multipolar components of the human heart.
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Brody, D.A., Brashaw, J.C. & Evans, J.W. The elements of an electrocardiographic lead tensor theory. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 23, 31–42 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476572
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476572