An improved method for selection of a seed beat for performing signal averaging on electrocardiograms (“ECGs”). The invention improves upon the prior art by extending the search for seed beats further into the electrocardiogram time-series and by searching all three orthogonal electrocardiographic channels. The method successfully locates seed beats even in suboptimal ECGs dramatically improving the success rate for analyzing ECGs eliminating the need to re-perform ECG analysis thus improving efficiency and reducing delay in discovery of dangerous arrhythmias.
