Preprocessing of the ECG signals using the His-Purkinje fractal system

Abstract

Depolarization of the myocardial cells of the left and the right ventricles via the irregular but self-similar pattern of branching of the His-Purkinje tree produces the QRS complex on the surface electrocardiogram. The analysis of the power spectrum of the QRS complex has shown that it has the inverse power law or fractal behavior. This fractal behavior has been modeled in the frequency domain by a fractional power pole (FPP) which we have called the His-Purkinje fractal system. This paper deals with the ECG signal preprocessing for R wave detection using new and simple processing strategies based on the His-Purkinje fractal system. The MIT/BIH arrhythmia database has been used to test the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results obtained are presented, discussed and compared to the one of the most efficient R wave detection preprocessing technique.