Method of enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of measured electrocardiogram (ECG) signals and a cardiac device for use in detecting heartbeats

摘要

A method of enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of measured electrocardiogram (ECG) signals is provided. The method includes the steps of providing at least three cardiac input signals derived from the measured ECG signals S1 and forming a first estimate U1 S2 from each of at least three pairs of input signals. Moreover, the method includes the steps of forming a second estimate U2 S3 from each of at least three input signals; comparing S4 the polarity and the amplitude of a first and second estimate U1, U2 to at least one threshold T; generating S5 a composite signal X, wherein the polarity and the amplitude of the composite signal X depend on the result of the comparison; and using S6 the generated composite signal X to produce an output signal with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, a corresponding cardiac device is also provided.

主权项

1. A method of enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of measured electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, the method comprising the steps of:
providing at least three cardiac input signals derived from the measured ECG signals; forming a first estimate U1 from each pair of the at least three cardiac input signals; forming a second estimate U2 from each of at least three cardiac input signals; comparing the polarity and the amplitude of a first and second estimate U1, U2 to at least one threshold T; generating a composite signal X, wherein the polarity and the amplitude of the composite signal X depend on the result of the comparison; and using the generated composite signal X to produce an output signal with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), wherein within the step of comparing, the first and second estimate U1 and U2 are compared to an upper threshold UT and a lower threshold LT, wherein the upper threshold UT and the lower threshold LT are different values.