Assessment of Electrocardiogram Quality Using Lossless Compression Technique for Heart Rate Variability Analysis

A simple method of assessment of electrocardiogram (ECG) quality based on lossless data compression is proposed. It is intended for a quick preliminary assessment of ECG in terms of further analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) based on a sequence of R-peaks. The method does not require a priori information about the type, nature and intensity of noise. The only output parameter of pre-processing step is the ECG compression ratio. Thresholds of compression ratio are determined, above which the results of further analysis of HRV are the same as for the corresponding ECG not distorted by noise. For a sampling frequency of 250 Hz, the threshold is equal to 1.4, for a frequency of 2000 Hz, it is 4.0. The results are shown for both synthetic ECG and ECG received using a personal screening diagnostic device.