Nonlinear adaptive wavelet analysis of electrocardiogram signals

Wavelet representation can provide an effective time-frequency analysis for nonstationary signals, such as the electrocardiogram (EKG) signals, which contain both steady and transient parts. In recent years, wavelet representation has been emerging as a powerful time-frequency tool for the analysis and measurement of EKG signals. The EKG signals contain recurring, near-periodic patterns of P, QRS, T, and U waveforms, each of which can have multiple manifestations. Identification and extraction of a compact set of features from these patterns is critical for effective detection and diagnosis of various disorders. This paper presents an approach to extract a fiducial pattern of EKG based on the consideration of the underlying nonlinear dynamics. The pattern, in a nutshell, is a combination of eigenfunctions of the ensembles created from a Poincare section of EKG dynamics. The adaptation of wavelet functions to the fiducial pattern thus extracted yields two orders of magnitude (some 95%) more compact representation (measured in terms of Shannon signal entropy). Such a compact representation can facilitate in the extraction of features that are less sensitive to extraneous noise and other variations. The adaptive wavelet can also lead to more efficient algorithms for beat detection and QRS cancellation as well as for the extraction of multiple classical EKG signal events, such as widths of QRS complexes and QT intervals.