A WAVELET BASED SECURED ECG DISTRIBUTION

TECHNIQUE FOR PATIENT CENTRIC APPROACH

Abstract:

Electrocardiogram (ECG) provides detail condition of the heart of a cardiac

patient. ECG also contains some features, which can serve as a biometric entity for
identification of a particular patient. Therefore, when ECG is transmitted for remote
telehealth application, it is susceptible to patient’s privacy. Interception of ECG data may
release patients overall condition to the wrong hand. To protect patients’ privacy
HIPAA regulations are in place. However, according to the literature, research related
to the securing encryption) is scarce. In this paper, we proposed two methods if ECG
encryption and distribution for a patient centric telehealth application. Using wavelet
decomposition techniques only important portion of the ECG signal is selected for
encryption. The remaining ECG coefficients (wavelet decomposition) are uploaded to
a public ECG repository. The doctor downloads the publicly available coefficients and
uses the encrypted coefficients, which has already been distributed to him from the
patient, to retrieve the original ECG. Apart from providing complete security, this
architecture provides faster ECG transmission by achieving a high compression ratio
of up to 2.81.

Introduction:

Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is a transthoracic interpretation of the

electrical activity of the heart over time captured and externally recorded by skin
electrodes. [1] It is a noninvasive recording produced by an electrocardiographic device.

Electrical impulses in the heart originate in the sinoatrial node and travel through
the intrinsic conducting system to the heart muscle.The impulses stimulate the
myocardial muscle fibres to contract and thus induce systole. The electrical waves can be
measured at selectively placed electrodes (electrical contacts) on the skin. Electrodes on
different sides of the heart measure the activity of different parts of the heart muscle. An
ECG displays the voltage between pairs of these electrodes, and the muscle activity that
they measure, from different directions, also understood as vectors. This display indicates
the overall rhythm of the heart and weaknesses in different parts of the heart muscle. It is
the best way to measure and diagnose abnormal rhythms of the heart,[2] particularly
abnormal rhythms caused by damage to the conductive tissue that carries electrical
signals, or abnormal rhythms caused by levels of dissolved salts (electrolytes), such as
potassium, that are too high or low.[3] In myocardial infarction (MI), the ECG can
identify damaged heart muscle. But it can only identify damage to muscle in certain
areas, so it can't rule out damage in other areas.[4] The ECG cannot reliably measure the
pumping ability of the heart; for which ultrasound-based (echocardiography) or nuclear
medicine tests are used.
ECG Wave:

A typical ECG tracing of a normal heartbeat (or cardiac cycle) consists of a P wave, a
QRS complex and a T wave.[23] A small U wave is normally visible in 50 to 75% of
ECGs. The baseline voltage of the electrocardiogram is known as the isoelectric line.
Typically the isoelectric line is measured as the portion of the tracing following the T
wave and preceding the next P wave.

Block Diagram: