Title: A real-time adaptive filtering approach to motion artefacts removal from ECG signals

Authors: Nicola Martini, Matteo Milanesi, Nicola Vanello, Vincenzo Positano, Maria Filomena Santarelli, Luigi Landini

Addresses: ''G. Monasterio'' Foundation, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa, Italy. ' ''G. Monasterio'' Foundation, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi, 2 – 56126 Pisa, Italy. ' ''G. Monasterio'' Foundation, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa, Italy. ' Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi, 2 – 56126 Pisa, Italy

Abstract: Motion artefacts represent a severe problem in Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring using portable devices, as they may overlap the characteristic ECG waveforms. In this study, an adaptive filtering technique for artefacts removal is investigated. The adopted approach exploits motion-related information coming from an accelerometer attached on the ECG electrode. The experimental results indicate that adaptive filtering technique removes a large amount of motion artefacts with a decreased number of beat detection errors, making our approach a useful pre-processing scheme for ECG analysis. The developed system, implemented on a commercial microcontroller, verified real-time requirements, hence resulting suitably for portable monitoring devices.

Keywords: ECG monitoring; electrocardiograms; artefact removal; adaptive filtering; real time; motion artefacts; portable devices; beat detection errors; cardiac cycles; heart beat; pre-processing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2010.032694

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2010 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.233 - 245

Published online: 13 Apr 2010 *

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