Real Time Matched Filter Detection of the QRS Complex by Replica Correlation.

The report describes an approach to optimum detection of each cardiac cycle from noisy electrocardiograms. A filter matched to the QRS complex of the electrocardiogram is proposed to achieve the results. It is demonstrated analytically that such a filter yields the optimum signal to noise ratio obtainable in the presence of stationary Gaussian noise. While this type of filtering is done on a digital computer, and not in real time, the advent of medium and large scale integrated circuit technology has made it feasible to implement a specific piece of hardware for this purpose. Author