Electrocardiogram characterization using wavelet analysis

Abstract

The electrocardiograph graphical representation Fax 213 34 21 43 32Mokrani-k@yahoo.fr , alliche@yahoo.com (ECG) is the of the forces generated during the cardiac activity. Actually it is an essential tool for the diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities. The analysis of an ECG signal is often difficult and a long practice and experience are needed. An automatic ECG analyzer will provide a cardiologist with a tool allowing a faster and more accurate diagnosis. The analysis consist on the measure of the amplitudes, the durations and the morphologies of the P, QRS and T waves. This paper deals with the measure of the QRS duration, R spikes detection (arrhythmia) and the starting and vanishing time of the T wave. A comparison of different methods based on the derivatives and filtering for the extraction of the ECG characteristics is presented. We have shown that a wavelet analysis gives better results than classical methods, moreover it gives a finer characterization of the parameters.