Heart-rate tuned comb filters for processing photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals in pulse oximetry
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2021
Abstract
Calculation of peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO 2) levels in humans is often made with a pulse oximeter, using photoplethysmography (PPG) waveforms. However, measurements of PPG waveforms are susceptible to motion noise due to subject and sensor movements. In this study, we compare two SpO 2-level calculation techniques, and measure the effect of pre-filtering by a heart-rate tuned comb peak filter on their performance. These techniques are: (1) “Red over Infrared,” calculating the ratios of AC and DC components of the red and infrared PPG signals,(AC/DC)red(AC/DC)infrared, followed by the use of a calibration curve to determine the SpO 2 level Webster (in: Design of pulse oximeters, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1997); and (2) a motion-resistant algorithm which uses the Discrete Saturation Transform (DST) (Goldman in J Clin Monit Comput 16:475–83, 2000). The DST algorithm isolates individual “saturation components” in the optical pathway, which allows separation of components corresponding to the SpO 2 level from components corresponding to noise and interference, including motion artifacts. The comparison we provide here (employing the two techniques with and without pre-filtering) addresses two aspects: (1) accuracy of the SpO 2 calculations; and (2) computational complexity. We used both synthetic data and experimental data collected from human subjects. The human subjects were tested at rest and while exercising; while exercising, their measurements were subject to the impacts of motion. Our main conclusion is that if an uninterrupted high-quality heart rate measurement is available, then the “Red over Infrared” approach preceded by a heart-rate tuned comb filter provides the preferred trade-off between SpO 2-level accuracy and computational complexity. A modest improvement in SpO 2 estimate accuracy at very low SNR environments may be achieved by switching to the pre-filtered DST-based algorithm (up to 6% improvement in SpO 2 level accuracy at −10 dB over unfiltered DST algorithm and the filtered “Red over Infrared” approach). However, this improvement comes at a significant computational cost.
Identifier
85086674759 (Scopus)
Publication Title
Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing
External Full Text Location
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10877-020-00539-2
e-ISSN
15732614
ISSN
13871307
PubMed ID
32556842
First Page
797
Last Page
813
Issue
4
Volume
35
Grant
N68335-16-C-0085
Fund Ref
Office of Naval Research
Recommended Citation
Alkhoury, Ludvik; Choi, Ji won; Wang, Chizhong; Rajasekar, Arjun; Acharya, Sayandeep; Mahoney, Sean; Shender, Barry S.; Hrebien, Leonid; and Kam, Moshe, "Heart-rate tuned comb filters for processing photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals in pulse oximetry" (2021). Faculty Publications. 3933.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/fac_pubs/3933