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Digitization of electrocardiograms by desktop optical scanner.
1Cardiology Service, Albuquerque Veterans Administration Medical Center, New Mexico.
Journal of Electrocardiology
|October 1, 1991
Summary
Optical scanning accurately digitizes electrocardiogram (ECG) tracings, preserving signal fidelity for arrhythmia analysis. This automated method is comparable to traditional analog-to-digital conversion for ECG data.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Medical Informatics
- Cardiology
Background:
- Paper electrocardiogram (ECG) tracings are a legacy data format.
- Converting analog ECGs to digital formats is crucial for modern analysis.
- Existing digitization methods may have limitations in speed or accessibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the fidelity of a semiautomated optical scanning technique for ECG digitization.
- To compare the accuracy of optical scanning against standard analog-to-digital conversion.
- To assess the suitability of optically scanned ECG data for arrhythmia analysis.
Main Methods:
- Compared optically scanned ECG tracings with digitized analog signals.
- Utilized time- and frequency-domain correlation coefficients and root mean square error (RMSE).
- Analyzed QRS complexes and RR intervals from multiple ECG recorders and leads.
Main Results:
- High correlation coefficients (0.992-0.998) were observed for QRS complexes and RR intervals at 25 Hz filtering.
- Normalized RMSE values were low (2.62% for QRS, 1.82% for RR intervals).
- Optical scanning of mechanical recorder tracings showed equal or superior fidelity compared to nonmechanical recorders.
Conclusions:
- Semiautomated optical scanning provides high-fidelity digitization of ECG tracings.
- The technique is comparable to standard analog-to-digital conversion for ECG signal acquisition.
- Optically scanned ECG data are suitable for arrhythmia analysis, particularly QRS classification.