title: A new method for automatic delineation of ECG fiducial points based on the Phasor Transform.
abstract: The present work introduces a new ECG delineator, based on the Phasor Transform, which is characterized by its robustness, low computational cost and mathematical simplicity. The method converts each instantaneous ECG sample into a phasor, thus being able to deal very precisely with P and T waves, which are of notably lower amplitude than the QRS complex. Initially, the method relies on the detection of R peaks and, next, onset and offset of the QRS complex are identified. Finally, taking the QRS as a reference, P and T waves are detected and delineated. The new delineator has been validated with the QT database, providing average values of sensitivity higher than 98.60% for the detection of all the significant ECG waves and fiducial points. Additionally, the average maximum time delineation error was lower than 6 ms and its standard deviation was in agreement with the accepted tolerances for expert physicians in the onset and offset identification for QRS, P and T waves. As a consequence, this new algorithm is able to achieve similar performance to the one provided by other well known delineation algorithms, but with notably lower computational cost.
authors.affiliation: Innovation in Bioengeeniering Research Group, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, 16071, Cuenca, Spain. arturo.martinez@uclm.es
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alcaraz
authors.forename: Jose J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rieta
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008133:Long QT Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity