Analyzing ECG Data for Arrhythmia Detection

This assignment will explore the "A large scale 12-lead electrocardiogram database for arrhythmia
study" available on PhysioNet. You will utilize dimensionality reduction techniques, perform
exploratory data analysis (EDA), and create data visualizations to gain insights into this dataset
and potentially identify patterns related to arrhythmias.

Objectives:

• Apply dimensionality reduction techniques to reduce the high dimensionality of ECG

data.
• Perform exploratory data analysis on the ECG data to understand its characteristics and
distribution.
• Create informative data visualizations to explore potential relationships between ECG
features and arrhythmia presence.

Tasks:

1. Data Acquisition and Preprocessing:

o Download the "A large scale 12-lead electrocardiogram database for arrhythmia
study" from PhysioNet (https://physionet.org/content/ecg-arrhythmia/1.0.0/).
o Familiarize yourself with the data format and available features.
o Preprocess the data by handling missing values, outliers, and normalization if
necessary.

2. Dimensionality Reduction:
o Choose a dimensionality reduction technique like Principal Component Analysis
(PCA) or t-SNE.
o Apply the chosen technique to reduce the high dimensionality of the ECG data to
a lower number of informative features.
o Analyze the explained variance ratio (PCA) or visualize the data points in the
lower-dimensional space (t-SNE) to understand the captured information.
3. Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA):
o Analyze the distribution of heart rate and other relevant features in the dataset.
o Check for correlations between different features that might be indicative of
arrhythmias.
o Explore how features differ between patients with and without arrhythmias (if
such labels are available).
4. Data Visualization:
o Create visualizations showcasing the distribution of heart rate and other relevant
features.
o Consider using techniques like boxplots, histograms, and scatter plots.
o If arrhythmia labels are available, visualize how data points from patients with
and without arrhythmias are distributed in the lower-dimensional space obtained
from dimensionality reduction.
5. Reporting:
o Write a medium blog summarizing your findings.
o Explain the chosen dimensionality reduction technique and its impact.
o Discuss the results of your EDA, highlighting any interesting observations or
potential relationships between features and arrhythmias.
o Include the visualizations you created and explain their significance.
Evaluation:

The assignment will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Correct application of dimensionality reduction techniques.

• Thoroughness and insights gained from the EDA.
• Appropriateness and effectiveness of data visualizations.
• Clarity and comprehensiveness of the written blog.

This assignment allows students to practice dimensionality reduction, EDA, and data visualization
techniques in a real-world context of analyzing ECG data for arrhythmia detection. By working with
this dataset, students can gain valuable insights into cardiac health and the potential of data
science in medical applications.