ECG

Sonia Contreras Ortiz, PhD

Introduction
 An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a recording of the
electrical activity on the body surface generated by
the heart.
 ECG measurement
information is
collected by skin
electrodes placed
at designated
locations on the body.
ECG waves

 P wave: depolarization impulse across the atria.

 QRS complex: ventricular depolarization.
 T wave: repolarization of the ventricular myocardium.
 U wave: may be due to slow replolarization of the
papillary muscles.
ECG power spectrum
 Noise artifacts:
 Power line interference
 Electrode contact noise
 Motion artifacts
 Muscle contraction
 Base line drift
 Instrumentation noise
generated by electronic
devices.
Biopotential acquisition system

Electrodes Isolation Instrumentation Low/High

amplifier Amplifier pass filtering

Signal Transmission A/D Gain

processing conversion
Electrodes
 Current is carried in the body by ions.
 The electrode acts as a transducer to change the ion current
flow into a current of electrons which is then amplified by an
electronic circuit.
 Electrodes are composed by a metal placed in an electrolytic
solution
ECG Signal acquisition
 ECG signals range from 0.5 mV to 5.0 mV
 Electric noise:
 Electrode-skin contact: ±300 mVDC
 Electrode-ground: up to 1.5 VDC (common mode)
 Power-line interference: 60Hz
 Standard clinical ECG bandwidth: 0.05 Hz to 100 Hz
ECG Signal acquisition
 Block diagram of a single-channel electrocardiograph
ECG amplifier

G = 31.9
BW = 0.048 - 106Hz

G = 25.38
ECG signal
 Signal in time domain and frequency domain
ECG devices
 Cardiac monitors
 Telemetry
 Clinical