Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

1998

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Electrical Engineering

Abstract

The purpose of the work reported in this thesis was to provide the author with hands-on experience in the development of real-time software. This objective was achieved using digital signal processing techniques (DSP) for a biomedical engineering application. In this work, DSP techniques were used to analyze the ECG waveform, filter out the different noise components that ride on the ECG signal, and perform related computations such as heart rate measurements and QRS duration measurement. In this work, the author developed two real-time detection algorithms. A QRS detection and heart rate measurement algorithm (qrs _ detect. m) and an ECG classification and QRS duration measurement algorithm (qrs_duration.m) were developed and implemented using MATLAB. MATLAB was selected for its user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). These algorithms could also be implemented in a high level programming language such as C, C++, or FORTRAN. The QRS detection and heart rate measurement algorithm, qrs_detect.m, was divided into two major sections. The first section, the QRS detection, was developed based upon the Pan and Tompkins algorithm (1985) (20]. The second section, the instantaneous and average heart rate measurement, based on a "smart" computation of the average heart rate, is an original work of the author. The implemented algorithm was tested on both real and simulated ECG data files. The test results that are presented in this thesis confirm that the implemented algorithm successfully detected the QRS for the real and simulated ECG data. The beat-to-beat (instantaneous) and adaptive average heart rate measurement algorithms both produced successful results. The ECG classification and QRS duration measurement algorithm, (qrs_duration.m), was developed on the same real-time concept that was used for the QRS detection and heart rate measurement algorithm. This algorithm searched for two significant points in the ECG waveform, the 'Q' and the 'S' points, for computing the QRS duration. The implemented algorithm was tested on both real and simulated ECG data files. The test results that are presented in this thesis confirm that the algorithm successfully detected the 'Q' and 'S' points and was able to make duration measurements for the QRS complex. The results confirm that the author successfully achieved the desired objective of gaining hands-on experience in the design and implementation of a real-time digital signal processing system.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Electrocardiography

Signal processing -- Digital techniques

Biomedical engineering

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

164

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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