A New and Lightweight R-Peak Detector Using the TEDA Evolving Algorithm

Abstract

The literature on ECG delineation algorithms has seen significant growth in recent decades. However, several challenges still need to be addressed. This work aims to propose a lightweight R-peak-detection algorithm that does not require pre-setting and performs classification on a sample-by-sample basis. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in the utilization of the typicality eccentricity detection anomaly (TEDA) algorithm for R-peak detection. The proposed method for R-peak detection consists of three phases. Firstly, the ECG signal is preprocessed by calculating the signal’s slope and applying filtering techniques. Next, the preprocessed signal is inputted into the TEDA algorithm for R-peak estimation. Finally, in the third and last step, the R-peak identification is carried out. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, experiments were conducted on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database (MIT-AD) for R-peak detection and validation. The results of the study demonstrated that the proposed evolutive algorithm achieved a sensitivity (Se in %), positive predictivity (+P in %), and accuracy (ACC in %) of 95.45%, 99.61%, and 95.09%, respectively, with a tolerance (TOL) of 100 milliseconds. One key advantage of the proposed technique is its low computational complexity, as it is based on a statistical framework calculated recursively. It employs the concepts of typicity and eccentricity to determine whether a given sample is normal or abnormal within the dataset. Unlike most traditional methods, it does not require signal buffering or windowing. Furthermore, the proposed technique employs simple decision rules rather than heuristic approaches, further contributing to its computational efficiency.