A method for analyzing dynamic processes represented by sequences of maps

Given a dynamic process represented by a sequence of maps (common in biomedical applications, meteorology, etc.) one may ask whether it is possible to describe the underlying phenomenon by extracting and following the features of the process during its evolution. The purpose of this work is to show a first attempt at formulating a model for this purpose, taking advantage of the fact that it is possible to describe the evolution of well-defined lines extracted from each map belonging to a given sequence. A syntactic approach is used to identify the structure of the “chainlets” belonging to a single map; furthermore, a new scheme is introduced to connect the structure of a map with that of the following one. The presence of this structural connection provides the possibility of having, as is shown in the paper, a one-dimensional description of the process. An application of this technique to biomedical data, representing the evolution of the cardiac potential function on the surface of the body, is described in detail.