Recovering intrinsic conduction velocity and action potential duration from electroanatomic mapping data using curvature

Electroanatomic mapping systems measure the spread of activation and recovery over the surface of the heart. Propagation in cardiac tissue is complicated by the tissue architecture which produces a spatially varying anisotropic conductivity, leading to complex wavefronts. Curvature of the wavefront is known to affect both conduction velocity (CV) and action potential duration (APD). In this study, we sought to better define the impact of wavefront curvature on these properties, as well as the influence of conductivity, in order to recover intrinsic tissue properties. The dependence of CV and APD on curvature were measured for positive and negative curvatures for several ionic models, and then verified in realistic 2D and 3D simulations. Clinical data were also analysed. Results indicate that the effects of APD and CV are well described by simple formulae, and if the structure of the fibre is known, the intrinsic propagation velocities can be recovered. Geometrical curvature, as determined strictly by wavefront shape and ignoring the fibre structure, leads to large regions of spurious high curvature. This is important for determining pathological zones of slow conduction. In the simulations studied, curvature modulated APD by at most 20 ms.