Real-time ECG telemonitoring system design with mobile phone platform

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an ECG (electrocardiogram) telemonitoring system based on a mobile phone platform. It transmits abnormal heartbeats, which are identified in the patient-worn unit (Holter), in real time by using MMS (multimedia messaging service) on GPRS (general packet radio service) and transfers all ECG data acquired and stored in the Holter by the Internet. By this way, the Holter can be used outdoors, and the communication cost can be reduced without losing important information of patients. The GPS (global positioning system) information provided by the Holter can be used to locate the patient for emergency help. To identify abnormal beats, we develop a real-time ECG classification algorithm that can be executed by the dual-core processor in the Holter. Experimental results show that the proposed system achieves an ECG classification accuracy of 98.98%.