Distributed approximating functional wavelet based neural network in ECG signal processing

For ECG signal processing, information extraction from a noisy background is the fundamental objective. Filtering (noise suppression, baseline wander elimination) is a very important step in efficient ECG signal features extracting to enhance the performance of automatic detection and classification of different cardiac diseases. In this paper we used Distributed Approximating Functional (DAF) wavelets to develop algorithms for signal approximation and filtering. These algorithms use Moving Average Artificial Neural Network with Wavelet type Hermite activating function. They are evaluated in MATLAB with signals from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and comparisons are made with the classical (radial basis function and sigmoid type activating function) artificial neuronal networks. New functions were created and integrated into MATLAB environment. The outcomes indicate a good performance tradeoff between accuracy and response time, making this type of algorithms desirable also for real-time implementation.