SCHILLER is proud to introduce a new and revolutionary medical tool called AF Toolbox, which allows the early and fast detection of atrial fibrillation based on regular resting ECGs. It is the result of a joint development project between EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Lausanne and SCHILLER medical technology engineers*.
Highly efficient and time-saving
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia but in most patients it is difficult to detect. Thanks to this unique AF Toolbox (Atrial Fibrillation Toolbox), atrial fibrillations – which are the most common cause of strokes or cerebral infarcts - can be detected reliably without complicated tools or invasive procedures. The function of the AF Toolbox is in three steps:
Step one: resting ECG recording
The data is obtained from a regular ECG recording (example: 12-lead resting ECG).
Step two: separation / QRST suppression
AF Toolbox separates the atrial activity from the ventricular activity by suppressing the ventricular activity in the ECG. The atrial activity can therefore be analysed isolated from the ventricular activity.
Step three: zoom, enlargement of the atrial activity
The enlarged presentation of the isolated atrial activity allows a reliable detection of atrial fibrillation (zoom view).
The AF Toolbox view displays the waveforms of the atrial and ventricular activities separately. This detailed information on the atrial activity allows the detection of various types of atrial fibrillations that are otherwise easily missed, based on a regular ECG recording and within minutes. Thanks to this information, reliable decisions can be made on whether or not a subsequent, invasive, electrophysiological examination is necessary.
* Reference: Abächerli R., Leber R., Lemay M., Vesin JM., van Oosterom A., Schmid HJ., Kappenberger L. Development of a toolbox for electrocardiogram-based interpretation of atrial fibrillation. J Electrocardiol. Epub 2009 Aug 19.
