Noise reduction of ECG by averaging. An experimental study of the procedure and a validated method

Electrical noise often hampers the interpretation of ECG and other heart-synchronous signals. Time-coherent averaging is a commonly used method to reduce the noise. This method has been implemented on a computer with 12,000 12-bit words of core memory, suitable for on-line use in any clinical laboratory. An analysis was made of which demands apply to the exactness of synchronization of added heart cycles. The method was tested with respect to these demands and also, on a limited scale, for its efficiency in eliminating ectopic beats from the average.