ECG data reduction method for medical telemetry system

No matter whether the data is important or not, the transmitter of a conventional medical telemetry system sends data continuously. The ECG data reduction method we present is designed for ECG telemetry system. The transmitter has a simple ECG analyzer which only detects abnormal waveform, and which suspend transmission while detecting normal ECG. Measurements on ECG wave detection and diagnosis have been done with the system whose processing speed is limited, because it is essential for battery driven system to save power consumption. The experimental hardware is a microprocessor based system. The software is composed of baseline drift canceller, waveform detector and ECG analyzer. Experiments have been performed on ECGs from normal subjects and on retrieved arrhythmia from data file. Under various conditions, such as resting, typewriting and walking, the results show that the abnormal waveforms were perfectly detected, and that the system has adequate performance for a built-in system