A low-power wireless ECG processing node and remote monitoring system

The Electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important physiological measurement that is critical in the diagnosis of many cardiac disorders. In this paper, the design of a wireless system for ambulatory ECG acquisition and analysis is discussed. The wireless ECG node can operate in one of two configurations, where (i) raw ECG data is continuously transmitted to a base station, or (ii) the Heart Rate (HR) is calculated on the node, and only HR data is transmitted. The power requirements of the wireless node are also analysed. Furthermore, the system design includes a complementary base station node, which can be attached via USB to the patient´s PC. The system back-end is also presented, whereby patient data is uploaded to a remote server, and can be accessed by the patient´s healthcare team via a secure website.