J peak extraction from non-standard ballistocardiography data: a preliminary study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Physiological Signal Processing

Background:

• Advanced algorithms for estimating heartbeat intervals from ballistocardiography (BCG) data often exhibit high computational complexity.
• Existing methods struggle with non-standard BCG waveforms, necessitating simpler, efficient approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for extracting J-peaks from non-standard BCG data.
• To enable low-complexity, fast heartbeat interval estimation using J-peak based algorithms.

Main Methods:

• Investigated the frequency band containing the majority of J-peak energy.
• Identified that external heartbeat harmonics contribute to non-standard BCG waveforms.
• Proposed a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) linear phase filter designed with the identified J-peak band as its pass-band.

Main Results:

• The proposed FIR filter effectively extracts J-peaks from non-standard BCG data.
• Experimental results validate the filter's capability in isolating crucial J-peak components.

Conclusions:

• The developed FIR filter provides a viable solution for extracting J-peaks from challenging BCG signals.
• This approach facilitates the use of computationally efficient algorithms for accurate heartbeat interval estimation.