Lab 1: ECG Signal Sampling and Processing
information from the ECG signal which can be
Lab 1: ECG Signal
Sampling and Processing
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this lab is to understand the
data acquisition and processing method of
electrocardiograms (ECGs). ECGs measure the
electrical activity of the heart and can be used
to track heart rate and diagnose cardiac
abnormalities. In order to convert this complex
physiological signal into an understandable
format, the digitized data collected by the ECG
leads must be processed and subsequently
plotted into a visual wave graph. Physicians (or
students) to gain useful information about the
subject’s heart can then efficiently interpret
such a graph.
In the field of bioengineering, ECGs can
be a good introduction to help students
understand the ways in which signals (in this
case electrophysiological signals from the heart)
can be processed using programs such as
MATLAB and excel. This can also be used as a
learning tool to understand the significance of
sampling rates, resolution, ways to reduce noise
in data presentation, the limitations of the
running-average algorithm, and as a model for
curve-fitting.
METHODS
The methodology of this lab begins with
the data acquisition. Electrodes were attached
to the student at 3 locations: the right wrist,
inside of the right elbow, and inside of the left
elbow. The electrodes were attached to leads
that were connected to an ADC. The digital
information generated by the ADC was sent to
the Vernier LabPro device which sends a data
file to the computer. This data file contains
voltage readings from the 3 leads and the time
Guy Everett & Mackenzie Andrews, Section D
displayed in a wave plot on the monitor.
The electrode positions were adjusted
until a clear and consistent signal was
generated by the monitor. ECG data was then
collected under varying conditions: while
relaxed, after vigorous exercise, while
performing the Valsalva maneuver, and while
lowering the fs to extinguish the ECG signal. This
data was then plotted in excel and processed in
MATLAB with a running average and sinusoidal
curve fit.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Before testing the various conditions, a
comparison between different positions for the
electrodes to find the optimal location was
carried out. The conditions tested were distal
and proximal locations and then an
intermediate based on the results observed
from the first two trials. Figure 1 shows the ECG
signals at each location. The final decision was
to place the electrode with 2 of them in the
crooks of the elbows and the final one placed
on the right wrist.
Figure 1: ECG recordings at 3 different electrode locations. The
first location was proximal to the heart, the second location was
distal to the heart, and the third was found by trial and error until
a consistent action potential reading was observed.
With the electrodes in the ideal
position, ECG recordings were taken while the
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Lab 1: ECG Signal Sampling and Processing
student was calm, after vigorous exercise, and
with a diminished sampling frequency. These
readings were then plotted using MATLAB
(Figure 2).
The absolute maximum heartbeat
recorded was after vigorous exercise with a
value of 120 bpm (2 Hz). The minimum
heartbeat recorded was 60 bpm (1 Hz) which
was recorded when the subject was calm. ECG’s
have a maximum frequency which would
correspond to the maximum heart rate of a
human. The maximum heart rate in individual
can achieve without serious damage to the
heart can be calculated using the Haskell and
Fox formula (HRmax = 220 – age).1 The student
was 20 years old so the maximum heart rate of
that individual would be 200 bpm which would
give a maximum frequency of 3.3 Hz.
After vigorous exercise the ECG signal
increased in frequency by approximately a
factor of 2. This is likely due to the need for the
heart to be more active to deliver enough blood
to muscles needed to maintain the activity level
of the subject.
Figure 2: ECG recordings of student under 1) calm conditions, 2)
after running, and 3) with a lowered sampling frequency.
The amplitude of the subject’s ECG was
constant. The electrical impulses generated by a
healthy heart should be consistent or the heart
Guy Everett & Mackenzie Andrews, Section D
would not be able to pump blood through the
body efficiently and quickly. Comparing the
amplitude of the ECG with other groups there
were some differences that is explained by the
fact that people have different sized bodies as
well as circulatory systems of different
strengths based on such factors as their activity
level and health.
In any given signal, there is a high
likelihood of noise being present. This noise
can be caused by a variety of things depending
on the type of data being recorded. In this lab,
where voltage is the recorded information,
noise is generated by anything that generates a
voltage besides the heart (Figure 3). An example
used in class was the voltage generated by cell
phones but noise could also be introduced by
the subject’s breathing, muscle contractions in
muscles besides the heart, or even ions found in
sweat that encounters the electrodes.
Figure 3: A noise softening algorithm was used to smooth out the
raw ECG curve (top) to a more interpretable, de-noised curve
(bottom) without losing the QRS curve information.
A running average algorithm was used
to smooth the ECG graph. The running average
algorithm fails once the points averaged
exceeds around 10 the QRS-complex is
eliminated from the graph. One advantage of
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Lab 1: ECG Signal Sampling and Processing Guy Everett & Mackenzie Andrews, Section D

the running average algorithm is that it is used

to smooth out curves to make the graphs of
data readable. If care is not taken with the size
of the range, the average is taken over then
information is lost. To use the running average
properly it is then important to understand
what sort of data is called “noise” and what
data the person analyzing the signal needs.
Signals
The Nyquist frequency is used to determine the
minimum sampling frequency needed to ensure
that the signal is acquired properly. It is defined
to be a frequency in hertz that is twice the
greatest frequency of the signal being recorded.
In the case of action potentials that can fire at
the rate of 1000Hz it would require the time
frequency of sampling to be equal 2000Hz.2 The
sampling time required then is equal to 1/2000
sec. The sampling frequency in this lab was set
to record data every 5 milliseconds to acquire
the data from an action potential the sampling
frequency would have to be increased to every
0.5 milliseconds if no action potential wanted to
be missed or recorded improperly.
REFERENCES
1. Robergs R and Landwehr R (2002). "The
Surprising History of the 'HRmax=220-
age' Equation" (PDF). Journal of Exercise
Physiology 5 (2): 1–10.
2. Grenander, Ulf (1959). Probability and
Statistics: The Harald Cramér Volume.
Wiley. The Nyquist frequency is that
frequency whose period is two
sampling intervals.
APPENDIX
Authors: Guy Everett & Mackenzie Andrews
For bioen 317 lab 1 with the purpose of
generating the needed figures as well as
creating the sine function for the sinusoidal
wave fit.
close all ;clc; clear all;
C2 = dlmread('C2.txt', '\t', 7, 0);
C3 = dlmread('C3.txt', '\t', 7, 0);
C5 = dlmread('C5.txt', '\t', 7, 0);
C4 = dlmread('C4.txt', '\t', 7, 0);

smooth = zeros(2000,1);
for n = 1:2000
sum = 0;
for i = 1:5
sum = sum+C4(n+i,2);
end
ave = sum/5;
smooth(n)=ave;
end

Figure 4: A sinusoidal wave superimposed on an ECG signal. The subplot(2,1,1);

peak of the sine wave corresponds to the peak of the QRS wave in figure1=plot(C2(1:2000,1),C2(1:2000,2)+1,'b');
amplitude and time, the trough of the sine wave corresponds in
amplitude to the trough of the QRS wave.
hold on;

figure1=plot(C3(1:2000,1),C3(1:2000,2),'r');

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Lab 1: ECG Signal Sampling and Processing Guy Everett & Mackenzie Andrews, Section D

hold on;
figure1=plot(C5(1:100,1),C5(1:100,2)-1,'g');
legend('Calm','Running','Lowered fs');
axis([0 10 -2 2]);
grid on;
title('ECG');
xlabel('time (sec)');
ylabel('voltage (mV)');

subplot(2,1,2);
figure2=plot(C4(1:2000,1),C4(1:2000,2),'b');
hold on;
figure2=plot(C4(1:2000,1),smooth(1:2000)-
1,'r');
legend('Noisy', 'Smoothed');
axis([0 10 -2 1]);
grid on;
title('Noise Softening');
xlabel('time (sec)');
ylabel('voltage (mV)');

p2=C2(71:201,:);
plot(p2(:,1),p2(:,2))
hold on;
p3=p2(:,2);
peak=max(p3);
p4=-p3;
trough=-max(p4);
amp=peak+(-trough);
amp2=(peak+trough)/2;
f=@(n)
0.5199*sin(2*pi*n*.005*1.538+105.76*pi)+am
p2;
x=[1:130,1].';
y=[];
p1=p2(:,1);
for j=1:131;
y(j,1)=f(x(j));
end

plot(p1,y)
grid on;
title('superimposed sinusoid');
xlabel('time (sec)');
ylabel('voltage (mV)');