The electrophysiological mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmiasare studied by determining the spatiotemporal progression of cardiacdepolarization and repolarization, termed cardiac mapping. Analysis oftransient events requires information to be obtained from multiple sitessimultaneously. The most significant problem with the design of suchsystems has been the large amount of data storage required and therapidity of the composite data stream. Mapping systems with 500simultaneous channels are common, and 4,000 channel systems have beenenvisioned. The authors report a relatively simple approach to this datastorage problem that uses commercially available frame grabbertechnology coupled to a personal computer. With this approach they havedeveloped a storage system capable of 24,000 channels sampled at 1 kHzwith 12 bit resolution. Hybrid mapping systems incorporating opticalrecording systems utilizing voltage sensitive dyes from devices such asCCD cameras as well as conventional extracellular electrograms cansimultaneously utilize this approach
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