ECG based heart rate system with artefact rejection project

[resit30]

Heart rate is a vital indicator of health and anaesthetic status. While it is often possible
to monitor heart rate using a pulse oximeter, there are many situations in which this is
not practical. There is therefore a need for a simple electrocardiogram (ECG) based
system. In experiments involving neural prostheses (i.e. bionic ears and bionic eyes),
stimulus artefact, from the electrical stimulation of neural tissue, is often orders of
magnitude large than the ECG signal, complicating the task of determining heart rate.
I will need to design and construct a simple ECG based heart rate system that will be able to function in the presence of stimulus artefact from a neural prosthesis.

'm not sure in how to start this project. I will really appreciate it if you guys could help me out with it.

 

[carbonzit]

Is this a homework assignment?

 

[resit30]

Nope, this is an actual project which I'm planning to do for the long term.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

What's your background?

 

[resit30]

I'm a student studyin biomedical engineering.

 

[OlPhart]

Hmmmmm suspiciously similar to "Biological Signal Conditioner", even in the misspelling of ARTIFACT. And, yes there are homework assignments that last a year +, they're called theses (and I don't do Them for other people, either). <<<)))

P.S. the reason such objects are Very Expensive is they are equally Very Difficult to do well. Oh, and not electrocute the patient either.

 

[crutschow]

I believe you would need to analyze the contaminated signal to determine the characteristics you want to see and the characteristics you want to suppress, perhaps signals above a certain average threshold or with certain frequency components, for example. Then design a digital signal processor that will perform that function. It's not a trivial task.

 

[carbonzit]

Hmmmmm suspiciously similar to "Biological Signal Conditioner", even in the misspelling of ARTIFACT. And, yes there are homework assignments that last a year +, they're called theses (and I don't do Them for other people, either). <<<)))

P.S. the reason such objects are Very Expensive is they are equally Very Difficult to do well. Oh, and not electrocute the patient either.

Regarding "artefact", that's the way it's spelled (OK, spelt) in the UK, I believe. However, I agree that this smells suspiciously like a request for help with a homework assignment. Not that I really care; I'm just sayin' ...

 

[resit30]

I'm just trying to get feedback and just see where and how i can get started with it. It isn't a homework question. It's a project which I have to do within a year. crutschow, thanks for your help!

 

[ronv]

I like Carl's idea of the DSP. Then you can add filters as you invent them. One I have used in a different application is to delete a pulse that comes X % faster than the last pair of pulses.
You can also insert if you have missed a pulse (Bad filter).

 

[resit30]

Thanks for that Ronv. Yeah i know, I'm actually going to take Carls idea into consideration. I've put it in my project plan and yeah see how I go with it.