ECG Paper Digitization and R Peaks Detection Using FFT

Abstract

An electrocardiogram (ECG) uses electrodes to monitor the heart rhythm and identify minute electrical changes that occur with each beat. It is employed to investigate particular varieties of aberrant heart activity, such as arrhythmias and conduction problems. One of the most essential tools for detecting heart problems is the electrocardiogram (ECG). The majority of ECG records are still on paper. Manual ECG paper record analysis can be difficult and time-consuming. It is possible to digitally digitize these paper ECG recordings for automated analysis and diagnosis. In this paper, we proposed a system to digitize the ECG paper, automatically detecting R peaks, calculating the average heart rate, and sending SMS to the doctor via cloud in the event of detection of abnormality. The method of the system is uploading an ECG image, then dimensionality reduction, feature extraction in the form of digital signals, and saving it in a CSV file format using the MATLAB programming language. After that, the system retrieves the signals for further processing of the raw signals. We used the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm to calculate R peaks and calculate the heart rate. If the heart rate is abnormal, the system sends SMS messages to doctors via a technology platform (Twilio) using the Python programming language.