Late potentials and the improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in nonstationary noise

Abstract

An "instantaneous" optimal filter is presented for improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in averaged ECGs. The filter is designed for the case when the noise level varies from beat to beat. Simulation results indicate that a better performance is achieved by the new filter when compared to a similar filter designed for processing of beats with identical noise levels. An example is presented in which the filter is applied to the detection of cardiac late potentials.