Title: Estimation of heart rate from an apnoea detection device using matched filtering

Authors: Tielman Terblanche, Gert-Jan Van Rooyen, Cornie Scheffer

Addresses: Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa. ' Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa. ' Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

Abstract: Today, there are several respiration monitors available that are intended to detect the onset of apnoea in sleeping infants and adults. These monitors typically detect movement due to the respiration. This paper presents a method for the extraction of a subject|s heart rate from a commercial apnoea monitor. The significance of the method lies in the fact that certain cases of apnoea cannot always be detected when only monitoring breathing, and the heart rate can serve as an additional diagnostic or warning tool. An adaptive heartbeat detection system, based on matched filtering, is proposed which detects individual heartbeats from subjects with different physiological features. Additionally, a heart rate estimation system is proposed which determines the heart rate by using the information obtained from the heartbeat detection system. Data was recorded from adults and infants, and the matched filtering heartbeat detection system was able to monitor the heart rate of adults to within less than 5% and infants within 13% of the actual heart rate as determined using an electrocardiogram (ECG).

Keywords: piezoelectric; cardiovascular; matched filtering; heart rate estimation; apnoea detection; respiration monitors; sleep; heartbeat detection.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMEI.2010.035220

International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, 2010 Vol.2 No.3, pp.273 - 288

Published online: 14 Sep 2010 *

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