Abstract:In recorded bioelectric signals, such as the electrocardiogram, sinusoidal interference from power lines or other sources causes distortion in the signal and may lead to misdiagnosis. For long or continuous recordings, adaptive filtering can be effective in minimizing the interference. For short recording, the options are limited. Subtractive methods have been used, but they do not distinguish between the interference and signal components with similar frequency. A new method can distinguish between signal and interference, so that the interference can be removed with very small residual error. In clinical recordings, the frequency of powerline interference is known, but the adaptive nature of the algorithm allows extension to cases when the frequency of interference is not known exactly.