Flexible ECG acquisition system based on analog and digital reconfigurable devices

Abstract

This paper presents an electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition system based on reconfigurable devices. This system allows redesigning the analog conditioning stage thanks to the use of a Field Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) device, which may be adapted to the requirements of the signal shape and/or medical specifications. Simulated and real ECG signals have been acquired using this system in a three-lead configuration. A detailed study of its technical features has been carried out, showing good suitability for ECG acquisition. Further digital ECG signal processing is performed on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device, which has allowed different digital configurations to be tested, including FIR and wavelet filtering and identification of wave features such as the QRS complex. In addition, the FPGA device is in charge of FPAA reconfiguration. Thus, the pairing of FPAA and FPGA devices conforms a compact and versatile bio-signal acquisition platform. This platform has shown very good performance with different types of electrodes, and has also demonstrated the dynamic reconfiguration capabilities of these devices, which enable, for example, the tuning of gain and bandwidth as required by different input conditions and ECG application requirements. The analyzed performance parameters provide values such as 102 dB CMRR (Common-Mode Rejection Ratio), 14-bit ADC resolution, and 75 dB SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), among others, thus satisfying the minimum requirements for clinical use.