Wavelet concepts for electrocardiographic signal analysis
Alessandra de Almeida Fagundes, Luciano Godoy Fagundes, Emilia Angela Lo Schiavo Arisawa
Med Sci Tech 2013; 54:169-178
DOI: 10.12659/MST.889798
Available online: 2013-12-18
Published: 2013-12-18
Background:
The main motivation for this work is translating the main Continuous Wavelet Transform concepts and their applications for non-mathematician end-users and summarizing their main features when applied to the time-frequency analysis of biological signals.
Material and Methods:
We used an electrocardiography signal recorded by a Cardiac Monitor. The electrocardiographic signal was composed by the time difference between each R heart state (each heart beat).
Results:
There are advanced wavelet techniques that can process this type of signal directly. However, for this initial work, we decided to use the “Morlet” mother wavelet. The “Morlet” wavelet cannot handle the raw R-R signal.
Conclusions:
The major challenges we faced were how to connect advanced mathematical concepts, computational algorithms, and medical terms to build a single structure that would overlap without hiding elements from the other areas.
Keywords: electrocardiographic signal, heart rate variability, wavelet