A New ECG Compression Algorithm Based On Wavelet Foveation And Huffman Coding Techniques

Abstract

This paper introduces a new ECG signal compression algorithm based on modulating the ECG signal DWT coefficients with a proper mask constructed using the foveation principle. The constructed mask is a selective mask that gives a high resolution at a certain point (fovea) and falls down away from this point. The wavelet foveation of the ECG signal leads to decreasing the amount of information contained in the signal. So, the value of the foveated ECG signal Entropy will be decreased which by turn will increase the Compression Ratio (CR).The ECG signal after wavelet foveation is coded using Huffman codes; namely optimal selective Huffman coding, adaptive Huffman coding and modified adaptive Huffman coding. The performance of each coding technique is measured based on the CR, time cost and computational complexity.