A Method for Automating Signal Analysis from Therapeutic Devices

Abstract

Many methods exist for cardiac and neural signal feature extraction and identification, but a published method for validation of therapeutic medical devices by computer analysis of their signals can be seldom found. This paper presents a simple, fast algorithm to extract the electrical stimulation including pulse width, exponential decay, and time between pulses from neurostimulators, pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulators (TENS). An experimental validation demonstrated the automated analysis provide means to expedite device validation testing. In the future studies, the algorithm should be improved for its robustness and checked for analysis of signals with lower SNR. A figure of merit is provided to expedite electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests on the devices to ensure proper operation in the presence of electromagnetic emitters.