ECG Data Compression: A Review

The recent development of biomedical signal processing, information technology and communication has brought a new dimension to the medical world. It is now possible to record an ECG signal with a portable electrocardiograph lightweight and able to transform a micro-computer in electrocardiograph with the possibility of a diagnostic aid for automated interpretation. Applications focusing on portable devices for 24-hour on-line cardiac monitoring are in increasing demand. We are now shifting from a paper-based patient record to a digital one. Many ECG compression algorithms have been researched for optimization with respect to storage capacity and network bandwidth. For this we have to achieve a high compression ratio (CR) result and preserve clinical information (low PRD). Examples of ECG compression algorithms include AZTEC , TP, CORTES, KLT , DCT, DWT .Among these, wavelet transform-based algorithms have received a great deal of attention over the past several years because of their straightforward implementation and efficiency, and their good localization properties in time and frequency domains. This paper gives a bibliographical survey and general backgrounds of research and development in the field of ECG data compression based on over 50 published articles. The collected literature has been divided into many sections so that new researchers do not face any difficulty for obtaining literature in this field.