J Peak Extraction from Non-Standard Ballistocardiography Data: A Preliminary Study

In recent years, several advanced algorithms based on clustering, multi-method or data fusion approaches have been proposed to estimate heartbeat intervals from non-standard ballistocardiography (BCG) data. These advanced algorithms generally have higher computational complexity than J-peak based algorithms. This fact motivated us to study the problem of extracting J peaks from non-standard BCG data, because if this extraction can be realized, then a low-complexity J-peak based algorithm can be used to fast estimate heartbeat intervals from non-standard BCG data. We found that most of the energy in J peaks is contained in a relatively narrow frequency band, called J-peak band, and that the heartbeat harmonics outside the J-peak band can cause the non-standard BCG waveform. According to these findings, a FIR linear phase filter with the J-peak band as its pass-band is proposed. The experimental result demonstrates the ability of the proposed filter to extract J peaks from non-standard BCG data.