ECG signal acquisition and analysis for telemonitoring

Abstract

The goal of this article is to present an algorithm for QRS complex detection in an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, realized in Matlab software. The algorithm was tested on real ECG signals acquired with a commercial monitoring system Alive Heart Monitor and also for reference on signals from MIT-BIH online ECG signal database. The goal of our research is to import signals from the monitoring system to a PDA or a Smart Phone via wireless network for signal processing and use in telehealthcare and telemonitoring. Therefore, we examine the concept of wireless acquisition and digital signal processing of ECG (electrocardiogram) signal, which, in addition to traditional medicine is increasingly used in the field of telemedicine as well as in completely non-medical areas, such as sport, entertainment, marketing, etc. Furthermore, we describe the fundamental architecture of an electrocardiograph and describe and overview the basic methods for ECG signal processing.