Analysis of diaphragm EMG signals: Comparison of gating vs subtraction for removal of ECG contamination

The diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) conveys information relating to the mechanisms of respiration; however, electrocardiogram (EGG) contamination can compromise the accuracy of data derived from this signal. We examine the EMGdi recorded from anesthetized spontaneously breathing dogs via implanted electrodes to assess the extent of the error introduced by the ECG contamination and the effectiveness of ECG gating in reducing this error. Because ECG subtraction has been shown to generate accurate results for such applications, it is used as the gold standard. Analysis of variance methods are employed to compare results derived from the EMGdi data after ECG subtraction with corresponding results derived from the original data and from the data after ECG gating. Estimates of EMGdi variables obtained by using subtraction and gating techniques were not significantly different, indicating that gating can be employed on these signals to reduce ECG contamination without affecting the accuracy of the derived data. Results also show that at EMG-to-ECG power ratios >13.3 dB, ECG contamination does not significantly affect estimates of the EMGdi variables.