Will Two Do? Varying Dimensions in Electrocardiography: The PhysioNet/Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2021

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a non-invasive representation of the electrical activity of the heart. Although the twelve-lead ECG is the standard diagnostic screening system for many cardiological issues, the limited accessibility of twelve-lead ECG devices provides a rationale for smaller, lower-cost, and easier to use devices. While single-lead ECGs are limiting, reduced-lead ECG systems hold promise, with evidence that subsets of the standard twelve leads can capture useful information and can even be comparable to twelve-lead ECGs in some limited contexts. In 2017 we challenged the public to classify AF from a single-lead ECG, and in 2020 we challenged the public to diagnose a much larger number of cardiac problems using twelve-lead recordings. However, there is limited evidence to demonstrate the utility of reduced-lead ECGs for capturing a wide range of diagnostic information.

In this year's Challenge, we ask the following question: 'Will two do?' This year's Challenge builds on last year's Challenge, which asked participants to classify cardiac abnormalities from twelve-lead ECGs. We are asking you to build an algorithm that can classify cardiac abnormalities from either twelve-lead, six-lead, three-lead, and two-lead ECGs. We will test each algorithm on databases of twelve-lead, six-lead, three-lead, and two-lead ECGs, and the differences in performances of the algorithms on these databases will reveal the utility of reduced-lead ECGs in comparison to standard twelve-lead EGCs.

心电图（ECG）是对心脏电活动的一种非侵入性表征。尽管十二导联心电图是许多心血管问题的标准诊断筛查系统，但十二导联心电图设备的有限可及性为小型、低成本且易于使用的设备提供了理论依据。虽然单导联心电图存在局限性，但减少导联数的心电图系统却展现出巨大潜力，有证据表明，标准十二导联心电图的部分子集能够捕捉到有用的信息，在某些有限的情境下甚至可与十二导联心电图相媲美。2017年，我们向公众挑战，从单导联心电图中识别心房颤动，2020年，我们挑战公众使用十二导联记录诊断更多的心脏问题。然而，关于减少导联数的心电图在捕捉广泛诊断信息方面的效用，现有证据有限。在本年度的挑战中，我们提出了以下问题：‘两个导联是否足够？’今年的挑战是在去年的基础上进行的，去年要求参与者从十二导联心电图中对心脏异常进行分类。我们要求您构建一个算法，能够从十二导联、六导联、三导联和两导联心电图中对心脏异常进行分类。我们将对十二导联、六导联、三导联和两导联心电图数据库中的每个算法进行测试，这些算法在这些数据库上的性能差异将揭示减少导联数的心电图在标准十二导联心电图比较中的效用。