Time division multiplexing based method for compressing ECG signals: application for normal and abnormal cases

The proposed ECG compression method combines three major approaches based on time division multiplexing (TDM) and multilevel wavelet decomposition followed by parametrical modelling. Before applying these techniques, a pre-processing step is required, which consists of detecting and aligning different beats. Even though this compression method is regarded as a lossy method, we will show how a high compression ratio (CR) can be achieved by preserving the major medical information within the ECG. Several normal and abnormal signals from various databases are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique.     

基于小波变换和矢量量化的二维ECG数据压缩算法

本研究针对心电数据的压缩问题,提出了一种新的基于小波变换的二维心电（ECG）数据压缩算法。该算法首先将一维原始ECG信号转化为二维序列信号,从而使ECG数据的两种相关性可得到充分地利用;然后对二维ECG序列进行小波变换,并对变换后的系数应用了一种改进的矢量量化（VQ）方法。在改进的VQ方法中,根据小波变换后系数的特点,构造了一种新的树矢量（TV）。利用本算法与已有基于小波变换的压缩算法和其他二维ECG信号的压缩算法,对MIT/BIH数据库中的心律不齐数据进行了对比压缩实验。结果表明：本算法适用于各种波形特征的ECG信号,并且在保证压缩质量的前提下,可以获得较大的压缩比,具有一定的应用价值。     

A new hybrid algorithm for ECG signal compression based on the wavelet transformation of the linearly predicted error.

This paper describes a hybrid technique based on the combination of wavelet transform and linear prediction to achieve very effective electrocardiogram (ECG) data compression. First, the ECG signal is wavelet transformed using four different discrete wavelet transforms (Daubechies, Coiflet, Biorthogonal and Symmlet). All the wavelet transforms are based on dyadic scales and decompose the ECG signals into five detailed levels and one approximation. Then, the wavelet coefficients are linearly predicted, where the error corresponding to the difference between these coefficients and the predicted ones is minimized in order to get the best predictor. In particular, the residuals of the wavelet coefficients are uncorrelated and hence can be represented with fewer bits compared to the original signal. To further increase the compression rate, the residual sequence obtained after linear prediction is coded using a newly developed coding technique. As a result, a compression ratio (Cr) of 20 to 1 is achieved with percentage root-mean square difference (PRD) less than 4%. The algorithm is compared to an alternative compression algorithm based on the direct use of wavelet transforms. Experiments on selected records from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database reveal that the proposed method is significantly more efficient in compression. The proposed compression scheme may find applications in digital Holter recording, in ECG signal archiving and in ECG data transmission through communication channels.     

Compression of ECG signals by optimized quantization of discrete cosine transform coefficients.

This paper presents an ECG compressor based on optimized quantization of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients. The ECG to be compressed is partitioned in blocks of fixed size, and each DCT block is quantized using a quantization vector and a threshold vector that are specifically defined for each signal. These vectors are defined, via Lagrange multipliers, so that the estimated entropy is minimized for a given distortion in the reconstructed signal. The optimization method presented in this paper is an adaptation for ECG of a technique previously used for image compression. In the last step of the compressor here proposed, the quantized coefficients are coded by an arithmetic coder. The Percent Root-Mean-Square Difference (PRD) was adopted as a measure of the distortion introduced by the compressor. To assess the performance of the proposed compressor, 2-minute sections of all 96 records of the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database were compressed at different PRD values, and the corresponding compression ratios were computed. We also present traces of test signals before and after the compression/decompression process. The results show that the proposed method achieves good compression ratios (CR) with excellent reconstruction quality. An average CR of 9.3:1 is achieved for PRD equal to 2.5%. Experiments with ECG records used in other results from the literature revealed that the proposed method compares favorably with various classical and state-of-the-art ECG compressors.     

基于BW算法的高采样率心电数据无损压缩

目前对心电数据压缩的研究主要集中在对低采样率心电数据的压缩,我们提出了一种基于BW(Burrows-Wheeler)算法对高采样率心电数据的无损压缩算法.首先对原始心电数据进行差分变换,将部分16位二进制差值表示为8位,然后对差分结果进行前移编码,使得相同字符集中于某一段区域,最后通过算术编码得到高压缩比.结果表明,该算法不仅适用于高采样率体表心电数据的压缩,而且也适用于心内心电数据的压缩, 平均压缩比分别达到3.547和3.608.同现有的心电无损压缩算法相比,它在压缩效果上获得了较大改进.另外针对高采样率心电数据,使用该算法进行无损压缩也可以得到较好的压缩效果.     

基于小波网络的动态心电数据压缩算法

本文研究了动态心电信号的非平稳过程特性和动态心电图 (ECG)的诊断信息依据 ,从时间序列建模角度研究数据表示模型和压缩算法 ,采用小波网络 (WN)作为数据表示模型 ,提出了动态心电数据的小波网络压缩算法。本算法对原始心电数据实时地分帧 ,将每帧数据映射为小波网络的网络参数作为原始数据的重构信息。文中详细叙述了小波网络的数据表示原理和分帧压缩算法 ,给出了动态心电数据的压缩 /重建的实验结果并进行分析讨论     

一种心电数据压缩算法的研究

利用心电信号的相关性，对ECG进行预处理，再进行差值运算，将得到的差值序列进行DCT变换，从而实现心电数据的压缩。     

An ECG signal compressor based on the selection of optimal threshold levels of discrete wavelet transform coefficients

Compression of electrocardiography (ECG) is necessary for efficient storage and transmission of the digitized ECG signals. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has recently emerged as a powerful technique for ECG signal compression due to its multi-resolution signal decomposition and locality properties. This paper presents an ECG compressor based on the selection of optimum threshold levels of DWT coefficients in different subbands that achieve maximum data volume reduction while preserving the significant signal morphology features upon reconstruction. First, the ECG is wavelet transformed into m subbands and the wavelet coefficients of each subband are thresholded using an optimal threshold level. Thresholding removes excessively small features and replaces them with zeroes. The threshold levels are defined for each signal so that the bit rate is minimized for a target distortion or, alternatively, the distortion is minimized for a target compression ratio. After thresholding, the resulting significant wavelet coefficients are coded using multi embedded zero tree (MEZW) coding technique. In order to assess the performance of the proposed compressor, records from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database were compressed at different distortion levels, measured by the percentage rms difference (PRD), and compression ratios (CR). The method achieves good CR values with excellent reconstruction quality that compares favourably with various classical and state-of-the-art ECG compressors. Finally, it should be noted that the proposed method is flexible in controlling the quality of the reconstructed signals and the volume of the compressed signals by establishing a target PRD and a target CR a priori, respectively.     

A low computational complexity algorithm for ECG signal compression

In this work, a filter bank-based algorithm for electrocardiogram (ECG) signals compression is proposed. The new coder consists of three different stages. In the first one--the subband decomposition stage--we compare the performance of a nearly perfect reconstruction (N-PR) cosine-modulated filter bank with the wavelet packet (WP) technique. Both schemes use the same coding algorithm, thus permitting an effective comparison. The target of the comparison is the quality of the reconstructed signal, which must remain within predetermined accuracy limits. We employ the most widely used quality criterion for the compressed ECG: the percentage root-mean-square difference (PRD). It is complemented by means of the maximum amplitude error (MAX). The tests have been done for the 12 principal cardiac leads, and the amount of compression is evaluated by means of the mean number of bits per sample (MBPS) and the compression ratio (CR). The implementation cost for both the filter bank and the WP technique has also been studied. The results show that the N-PR cosine-modulated filter bank method outperforms the WP technique in both quality and efficiency.     

利用DCT分量差值压缩ECG数据的方法

由于心脏活动的有序性和各心电活动周期波形的相似性,各心电活动周期波形的DCT（离散时间余弦变换）分量也具有一定的相似性。根据这一特点,本文提出了在首先使用DCT压缩心电图（ECG）数据的基础上,进一步利用各ECG周期的DCT分量的差值来压缩数据的方法。     

ECG compression using uniform scalar dead-zone quantization and conditional entropy coding

A new wavelet-based method for the compression of electrocardiogram (ECG) data is presented. A discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is applied to the digitized ECG signal. The DWT coefficients are first quantized with a uniform scalar dead-zone quantizer, and then the quantized coefficients are decomposed into four symbol streams, representing a binary significance stream, the signs, the positions of the most significant bits, and the residual bits. An adaptive arithmetic coder with several different context models is employed for the entropy coding of these symbol streams. Simulation results on several records from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database show that the proposed coding algorithm outperforms some recently developed ECG compression algorithms.     

基于小波变换的心电信号准无损压缩算法

提出了基于小波变换的心电信号准无损压缩算法。在对原始信号进行一级小波分解的基础上，根据高频分量和低频分量所占位数的不同分别进行无损压缩。实验结果表明该方法失真度非常小，而且算法简单，运算速度快。     

Resource efficient data compression algorithms for demanding,WSN based biomedical applications

During the last few years, medical research areas of critical importance such as Epilepsy monitoring and study, increasingly utilize wireless sensor network technologies in order to achieve better understanding and significant breakthroughs. However, the limited memory and communication bandwidth offered by WSN platforms comprise a significant shortcoming to such demanding application scenarios. Although, data compression can mitigate such deficiencies there is a lack of objective and comprehensive evaluation of relative approaches and even more on specialized approaches targeting specific demanding applications. The research work presented in this paper focuses on implementing and offering an in-depth experimental study regarding prominent, already existing as well as novel proposed compression algorithms. All algorithms have been implemented in a common Matlab framework. A major contribution of this paper, that differentiates it from similar research efforts, is the employment of real world Electroencephalography (EEG) and Electrocardiography (ECG) datasets comprising the two most demanding Epilepsy modalities. Emphasis is put on WSN applications, thus the respective metrics focus on compression rate and execution latency for the selected datasets. The evaluation results reveal significant performance and behavioral characteristics of the algorithms related to their complexity and the relative negative effect on compression latency as opposed to the increased compression rate. It is noted that the proposed schemes managed to offer considerable advantage especially aiming to achieve the optimum tradeoff between compression rate-latency. Specifically, proposed algorithm managed to combine highly completive level of compression while ensuring minimum latency thus exhibiting real-time capabilities. Additionally, one of the proposed schemes is compared against state-of-the-art general-purpose compression algorithms also exhibiting considerable advantages as far as the compression rate is concerned.     

一种基于复合编码的心电数据压缩算法

本文提出了一种复合心电数据压缩方法，该算法根据ECG数据的特征变化，提取出每路ECG的心搏模板，从而把信号分成三部分；心搏模板，残差，位置参数，在保证恢复信号低失真的情况下，先对残余误差进行LADT编码，再利用Huffman的无损压缩方法进行全部数据二次压缩，与其它压缩方法相比，在同样的信息损伤下，该算法可获得更高的数据压缩比，本文提出的方法，也可应用到图像数据和其它数据的压缩中。     

Combined coding and wavelet transform for ECG compression

This paper presents a combined wavelet and a modified runlength encoding scheme for the compression of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. First, a discrete wavelet transform is applied to the ECG signal. The resulting coefficients are classified into significant and insignificant ones based on the required PRD (percent root mean square difference). Second, both coefficients are encoded using a modified run-length coding method. The scheme has been tested using ECG signals obtained from the MIT-BIH Compression Database. A compression of 20:1 (which is equivalent to 150 bit per second) is achieved with PRD less than 10.     

Combined coding and wavelet transform for ECG compression.

This paper presents a combined wavelet and a modified run-length encoding schemefor the compression of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. First, a discrete wavelet transform is applied to the ECG signal. The resulting coefficients are classified into significant and insignificant ones based on the required PRD (percent root mean square difference). Second, both coefficients are encoded using a modified run-length coding method. The scheme has been tested using ECG signals obtained from the MIT-BIH Compression Database. A compression of 20:1 (which is equivalent to 150 bit per second) is achieved with PRD less than 10.     

A combined application of lossless and lossy compression in ECG processing and transmission via GSM-based SMS

Abstract

This paper presents a software-based scheme for reliable and robust Electrocardiogram (ECG) data compression and its efficient transmission using Second Generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) based Short Message Service (SMS). To achieve a firm lossless compression in high standard deviating QRS complex regions and an acceptable lossy compression in the rest of the signal, two different algorithms have been used. The combined compression module is such that it outputs only American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) characters and, hence, SMS service is found to be most suitable for transmitting the compressed signal. At the receiving end, the ECG signal is reconstructed using just the reverse algorithm. The module has been tested to all the 12 leads of different types of ECG signals (healthy and abnormal) collected from the PTB Diagnostic ECG Database. The compression algorithm achieves an average compression ratio of ～22.51, without any major alteration of clinical morphology.     

An enhanced method for real-time modelling of cardiac related biosignals using Gaussian mixtures

Cardiac related biosignals modelling is very important for detecting, classification, compression and transmission of such health-related signals. This paper introduces a new, fast and accurate method for modelling the cardiac related biosignals (ECG and PPG) based on a mixture of Gaussian waves. For any signal, at first, the start and end of the ECG beat or PPG pulse is detected, then the baseline is detected then subtracted from the original signal, after that the signal is divided into two signals positive and negative, each modelled separately then incorporated together to form the modelled signal. The proposed method is applied in the MIMIC, and MIT-BIH Arrhythmia databases available online at PhysioNet.     

Morphological modeling of cardiac signals based on signal decomposition

In this paper a general framework is presented for morphological modeling of cardiac signals from a signal decomposition perspective. General properties of a desired morphological model are presented and special cases of the model are studied in detail. The presented approach is studied for modeling the morphology of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Specifically, three types of ECG modeling techniques, including polynomial spline models, sinusoidal model and a model previously presented by McSharry et al., are studied within this framework. The proposed method is applied to datasets from the PhysioNet ECG database for compression and modeling of normal and abnormal ECG signals. Quantitative and qualitative results of these applications are also presented and discussed.     

利用DCT分量差值压缩ECG数据的方法

由于心脏活动的有序性和各心电活动周期波形的相似性 ,各心电活动周期波形的DCT(离散时间余弦变换 )分量也具有一定的相似性。根据这一特点 ,本文提出了在首先使用DCT压缩心电图 (ECG)数据的基础上 ,进一步利用各ECG周期的DCT分量的差值压缩数据的方法