A versatile temperature-stable ECG simulator

The use of ECG recordings as a diagnostic tool relies heavily on the fidelity of the recorded signal. ECG signal synthesis is therefore vital in the testing and commissioning of ECG recording equipment. A number of signal generators have been previously presented in the literature, however the platforms they were developed on have become dated and more importantly their architectures do not provide a temperature-stable generator capable of operating at the necessary levels of precision in the voltage range required. The shortcomings of previous instruments are overcome here using a novel approach to the digital and analogue stages of the signal conditioning process. It offers significantly increased precision over the 100 μV-10 mV amplitude range, includes voltage offset correction and full temperature stability. The devices capability has been analysed and tested significantly more than any of its predecessors, and the results demonstrate it is a significant step forward in ECG signal synthesis.