[Basu, 3(12): December, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114 http: // www.ijesrt.com © International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [302] IJESRT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY Determination of Heart Rate from ECG Signal- A Simplified Approach Sautami Basu*, Yusuf Uzzaman Khan Department of Electrical Engineering Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Abstract Electrocardiography is a non-invasive technique of registration of the electrical activity of the heart and is widely used as a diagnostic tool by the physicians. ECG signal yields information about the conditions of the heart. Among many morphological markers of the ECG, the QRS complex and the R-peaks are the most significant ones---with the contribution of the R-peak to RR interval being a driving factor. The number of R-peaks in a specified interval leads to the determination of the heart rate in beats per minute. This calls for an efficient R-peak detection algorithm. The authors have suggested here a straight-forward algorithm, the efficacy of which has been improved by enhancing the quality of the ECG signal by EMD method. The performance has been compared with Pan-Tompkins algorithm---a benchmark method and also against the original values obtained from MIT/BIH database. Keywords: ECG signal, RR interval, Heart rate, Algorithm, EMD method. Introduction The clinical importance of the ECG signal in cardiology is well-established, being used for example, to determine heart rate, investigate abnormal heart rhythms and causes of chest pain. An ECG is generated by a nerve impulse stimulus to heart. The most important ECG signal features in a single cardiac cycle are labeled as shown in Fig.1. Fig 1 Normal ECG Signal Abnormal patterns of ECG signal as obtained in practice may be due to various types of artifacts. Among these artifacts the power line interference (PLI) and the baseline wandering (BW) are the most significant ones. The signal voltage level is as low as 0.5 to 5 mV and is susceptible to artifacts that are larger than it. These signals are within the frequency range of 0.5 to 100 Hz [1]. Obviously, signal - conditioning for baseline wandering correction and noise suppression is typically the first step before analysis is carried out. Literature review Sahoo [2] has opined that the most important interval to be used for the determination of the cardio-vascular abnormality condition is RR interval (normal value is 600-1200 ns ). Singh & Netala [3] measured RR interval using Pan-Tompkins algorithm---an optimized QRS detection algorithm in real time. Kulkarni & Patil [4] have determined bradycardia and tachycardia from ECG signal using wavelet transform. One of the steps to be followed is the detection of RR intervals. Nakaya & Nakamura [5] have improved adaptive sensing method for ECG signals by incorporating RR interval prediction. Joshi et al [6]