Heart-rate tuned comb filters for processing photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals in pulse oximetry
Open accessAbstract
Calculation of peripheral capillary oxygen saturation $${\text{(SpO}}_{{\text{2}}} {\text{)}}$$ (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 $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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, $$\frac{(AC/DC)_{red}}{(AC/DC)_{infrared}}$$ ( A C / D C ) red ( A C / D C ) infrared , followed by the use of a calibration curve to determine the $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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 $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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 $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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 $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ SpO 2 -level accuracy and computational complexity. A modest improvement in $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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 $${\text{SpO}}_{{\text{2}}}$$ 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.
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Performance of SpO2 measurement can be improved by filtering the PPG to accentuate the heart frequency.
“Performance can be improved by filtering the PPG to accentuate the heart frequency”
From Wearable Photoplethysmography for Cardiovascular Monitoring (2022) · cites this paper as [137]
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Wearable Photoplethysmography for Cardiovascular Monitoring
Charlton, P. H., Kyriacou, P. A., Mant, J., Marozas, V., Chowienczyk, P., & Alastruey, J. (2022) · Proceedings of the IEEE · doi:10.1109/jproc.2022.3149785 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
- Authors
- Alkhoury, L., Choi, J.-W., Wang, C., Rajasekar, A., Acharya, S., Mahoney, S., Shender, B. S., Hrebien, L., & Kam, M.
- Affiliations
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (US)
- Drexel University (US)
- Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (US)
- Corresponding author
- Alkhoury, Ludvik
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing
- Published
- 2020-06-17
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 797-813
- ISSN
- 1387-1307 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2614
- PMC
- PMC8286955
- OpenAlex
- W3036237291
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Office of Naval Research (N68335-16-C-0085)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Keywords
- pulse oximetry, photoplethysmogram, oxygen saturation estimation, motion artifacts, computational complexity, low signal-to-noise ratio
- MeSH terms
- Algorithms, Heart Rate, Humans, Oximetry, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Artifacts, Photoplethysmography
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