86 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIO-AMEDICAL ELECTRONICS July

On the Representation of Electrocardiograms*

T. Y. YOUNGt, MEMBER, IEEE, AND NV. H. HUGGINSt, FELLONV, IEEE

Summary-In dealing with the sophisticated statistical analysis present, one obtains a collection of numbers or repre-
of medical signals such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), the first sentative of a particular ECG. There are many different
problem one encounters is how to describe each ECG by a few num-
bers. This is the problem of efficient representation of signals, i.e., ways of choosing these basis signals. The most com-
to approximate the signal with the smallest number of basis signals monly used methods for this decomposition are the
while preserving the accuracy of the approximation. This paper be- sampled-data process' and the spectral-analysis meth-
gins with a discussion of signal representation in general. The con- od.2 For the fornmer, the basis components are pulses
cept of signal space is introduced, which is very helpful in under- whose time-domaini representative is of the form
standing the ideas of signal representation. This portion of the
material is of tutorial nature. sin(rt/T)/(rt/T) where T is the sampling period, and
Attention is then directed to a set of basis components which we for the latter, simple harmonic comiiponents of a Fourier
have found to be very efficient for ECG representation. These com- series. The important factors which should be considered
ponents are the so-called orthonormal exponential signals. An itera- in the choice of the basis are its efficiency and practical-
tive process is developed which enables us to find a set of matched ity. The instrumeittatioln for either siniusoidal or saml-
exponents for the representation of all ECGs. With six pairs of such
exponentials, the average error of ECG representation (QRS and T pled-data represenitationis is rather simple and practical.
waves only, leaving out P wave) is in the vicinity of five per cent. However, because of the large niumber of frequency comn1-
Experimental results will be shown. Using this representation, ponents anid saampling poiInts usually required for a suffi-
further statistical analysis may be carried out with ease. ciently accurate represenitation of a signal such as the
INTRODUCTION ECG, the task of the statistical anialysis of the repre-
sentatives becomes formidable. On the other hand, it is
ENLE CTROCARDIOGRAPHY has proved to be a known that for an enisemble of signals, the most efficient
useful diagnostic aid for physicians, who by representation is inl terms of prinicipal components of the
recognizing the different waveforms of electro- signal ensemble.3 In the past, the extensive computa-
cardiograms (ECG), are able to classify them into differ- tion and elaborate instrunmentation required has imiade
ent pathological categories. Recently there has been a this method impractical.
growing interest in automatic interpretation of electro- The problem of efficient signal representation is thus
cardiograms by digital conmputer. The ultimate purpose to select the smallest niumber of easily measurable sig-
of digital-computer diagnosis is, of course, to assist the nals which can be used as basis components to represeint
physicians in making more reliable analysis of data anid the individual members of the ensemble of signals with
to reduce, insofar as possible, the drudgery of examining acceptable fidelity for the intended purpose. For repre-
these records. M.any sophisticated statistical methods senting ECGs, we have found that orthonormal expo-
are known which are applicable to this problem. How- nentials are satisfactory for this purpose.
ever, in order to facilitate the use of these methods, it is
first desirable to find an efficient representation for ECGs. SIGNAI, REPRESENTATION AND ORTHONORMAL
An ECG may be expressed as a functioni of time. The COMPONENTS
physical observable itself we shall call a signal. A digital We shall first consider the signal representationi ini
computer reads principally numerical numbers anid, coIn- geiieral. Let us first make a distinction betweeni basis
sequently, we are forced to transform the physical ECG components and basis functions. The basis componenits,
signal into a collection of discrete numbers which are like a signal, are physical entities, while the basis funic-
representatives of the pertinent information in the sig- tions are their mathematical descriptions. To represenit
nal. This may be accomplished by decomposing the a signal by a set of basis componeints is equivalent to
ECG signal into a linear conmbination of a prescribed set representing a functioni, say f(t), by a set of basis funiic-
of componient signals, hereafter called the basis. Then, tionls oi(t)'s. Suppose we have a set of basis componienits
by measuring the amount of each component signial whose values at any instant t are given by the funictionis
¢1(t), 02(t), A sign-al whose value at any inistaint t
*
Received, April 19, 1963; revised manuscript received June 26,
1963. Parts of the preliminary results were presented at the 1961 IRE
Convention, March, 1961, and at the 4th International Conference 1 H. V. Pipberger, E. D. Freis, L. raback and H. L. Mason
on Medical Electronics, July 16-21, 1961. The research reported "Preparation of electrocardiographic data for analysis by digital elec-
herein was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract tronic computer," Circulation, vol. 21, pp. 413-418; March, 1960.
2 E. C. Lowenberg, "Signal theory applied to the analysis of elec-
Nonr-248(53) and by Public Health Service Grant H2923C3.
t Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Murray Hill, N. J. Formerly, troencephalograms," IRE TRANS. ON MEDICAL ELECTRONICS, vol.
Department of Electrical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Univer- ME-7 pp. 7-12; January, 1960.
sity, Baltimore, Md. 3K. L. Jordan, Jr., "Discrete representations of random signals,"
t Department of Electrical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Uni- MI.I.T., Research Lab. of Electronics, Cambridge, Tech. Rept. No,
versity, Baltinmore, Md. 378; 1961.

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1963 1963 Younr and Huggins: Representation of Electr-ocardiograms8 87

is f(t) may then be represented by this set of basis com- error is the miieain-square error which is defined as
poneints in the following maniner: r t2
oo Ee = E 2(I)dt. (7)
tl
f(t) = E 6t+2 (/) I tl < t <. 2, (1)
For a given set of N basis funictionis, onie would like to
where c's are the coefficienits. We would like to remiind determine the ci coefficients, so that the mean-square,
the reader that in (1) the Oj(t)'s are not necessarily error (also called error eniergy) is minimized. This is
either orthogonal or normalized. However, with ortho- called least-square approximation.8 We shall show that
normality of basis components, the evaluationi of the the ci's calculated from this criterion are indeed the
coefficients is much simiplified. The orthonornmality is same as (5).
defined by Fronm (6) and (7), the error eniergy may be writteni as
rt
tl
0fi (1) qj(t) = 6 ij' (2) E. fJ 1 {f(t) - Z ci(i)} {f(t) - E ci+j(t)} dt
t t2 N t2

where &ij is the Kroinecker delta, = f(t) dt-2 L st

2
f(t)Oj(t)dI
N N rt2
I=-1 for i-j; + l c ICjJi(t) j(t) dt.
1 (8)
-0 for i #jj( (3) i=l j=l tl

The set of basis components corresponiding to the set of Because of the orthoinormality of the O's,
orthonormal functions Oi(t)'s are then called orthonormal r t2 2 N t2
components.4 Mkultiply ing both sides of (1) by Oj(t) and RE- f2(t)dt - 2 cE f(t)k,(t)(jj + Z c,2. (9)
initegrating over the time initerval tl.t<t2, we have
t2 °i r2
For least-square error, it is necesary that
ff(f)oj(t,)dt = E Ct f(t)Oj(t)dt.
o (4) - 0
_= 0.
tl i=l tl (10)
aGi
Due to the orthonormality prescribed by (2), all the
terms in the right-hand side of (4) vanish except the Partial differentiation of (9) with respect to c. and sub-
term for i -j. Thus stitution into (10) gives us
r t2
rt -=j f(t)4,(t)dt, (11)
cj =
f(t)oj(t)dt. (5) tI
tl
which is precisely the same as (5) except that we used
Consequeintly, the coefficieints f(t) may be evaluated by different indices.
the above integral which, as we shall show later, is Thus far we have not specified any particular set of
equivalent to a filtering process.5 basis functions. For the sampled-data representatioin,
Suppose we intend to use the first N-orthonornmal the basis functions are cardinial functioins,
functions to approximate f(t), then
sin 7r(tlT - i)
N (12)
f(t) = >2: ci i(t) + E(t), (6) 7r(tl T - i)
i=l
where T is the sampling period. For spectra analysis, the
where e(t) is the error funiction due to the representation usual basis functions are the well-known trigonometric
(approximation) of f(t) by N functionis. If f(t) is exactly fuinctionls
representable by these N functions, e(t) will be zero. OIn
4 2k- (t) = b2k-1 sin kt
the other hand, the error function e(t) may be kept as
close to zero as we wish by increasing the number N. '02k (t) b2k cos kt, - (13)
The problem of efficient representation is then to find a where b's are the normalization constants. Both cardinial
specified number of basis functions that will minimize functions and the functions defined in (13) are ortho-
the expected error. normnal since they satisfy the orthoniormal condition of
The error is a fuinction of time, which varies from (2) for a proper choice of time interval t 1<t<t2.
instant to instant. The usual criterion for measuring the To illustrate the ideas of signal representation, assume
4The orthonormal components should not be confused with the that we have a triangular signal aind a square signal
orthogonal lead system in electrocardiography. We are talking about
orthogonality and normality in the time domain rather than in space. 6 M. R. Aaron, "The use of least squares in system design," IRE
6 L. A. Zadeh and K. S. Miller, "Generalized ideal filters," .T TRANS, ON CIRCUIT THEORY, Vol. CT-3, pp. 224-231; December.
Appi. Phys., vol. 23, pp. 223-226; February, 1952. 1956. '

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88 8EEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIO-MEDICAL ELECTRONICS Jlylu
which are definied, respectively, SIGNAL-SPACE CONCEPTS by their values at the
instant t as A geometrical initerpretationi of signial representatioi
f(t) t (O < t r)
< process is helpful for the understaniding of some of otur
ideas.7 8 A set of three inumllbers, C, C2, C3, such as the
g(t)-r (O < t < r), (14) ones shown in (17), cain be regardedi as coordinates of a
anid that we are interested in approximatinig the signals vector in- a three-dimenisional space. Since 4)1, 42 anid 43
by a set of orthonormal componenits which correspond are orthoniormal, they represenit three orthogoinal co-
to three orthonornmal sine functionls ordinate axes constitutiing the three-dimiienisional space.
Correspoinding to each signal in the formii of f, 4a, II
2 (17) there is exactly oine vector in the three-dinmensional
fl(f)= t -sin t space spaniiedl by 0l, 4)2 anld 43. Fig. 2 illustrates tllis
three-dimeinsionial space.
2 Onie should inotice that the trianigular signall and the
4)2(1) - - sin 2t square wave shown in (14) do Inot fall comiipletely in the
three-dinmensionial space. However, their projections ill
2 this space are inideed the least-square approximations of
43(t) = ,/- sin 3t, (0 < t < 7). themi, i.e. f,4 anid 9ga. Furtherimiore, the error signial due
to this approximation is orthogonial to this three-dimeni-
TIhe approximatioin of a signal by a set of orthonormiial sional space. It cani be shownr fromii (6) that
components is equivalent to the approximationi of a rt2 3

time function by a set of orthonormal functions. The J f(t)2j(1)di E

12
stJi 0 i (t) (j (1)dt
±

coefficient for f(t) and g(t) may be evaluated accordinig tl

to (11). Thus, the least-square approximatioins fa(t) alilI

ga(t) may be written as + E (/) )j(t)dt. (18)
rt2
I1
V/2ir V2r
fa(t) -\/27r41(t) + ¢02(t) + 3(t) Owing to (2) (orthonioriiality) anld (11), it is obvioLus
that
ga(t) = 2V/2ir 1(t) + 3(t). (16) t2
f E(1) )j(t)di = 0, (j = 1, 2 or 3), (19)
I

A plot of these functions appears in Fig. 1. The im-

portant result is that, given the basis componieints, the which states that e(t) is orthogonial to Oj(t). Sinice the
approximating signials are describable by the discrete error signial E(t) is orthogonal to all three basis coini-
coefficieints. Thus, one miiay write sets of numiibers ponents, it is orthogonial to the three-dimenisionial signal
space spanned by themi.
Generally speaking, lny signial mlay be regarded as a
fa _-\/2r \/2rr } signal vector in anall infinite-dimensional signal space. Tlhe
fa, =
-O/2rl n~ J

length aind the directioni of each vector correspond to the

{_V2ir~ 2V/27r} mlagnituide and the waveformii of the signlal respectively.
g1 = /2-\/2ri 0, (17)

and statistical analysis miiay be based oni these discrete 42

niumbers. For a sufficienitly large niuimiber of basis comll-
ponietnts, the approximating signals mlay be close eniough
to the original signials to allow all pertinient information
to be conitainied in the approxinmatinig signials.
/~~~~~~~~~
9a
3~~~~~~~~~~~

Fig. 2-Signal space spanned by three sine functions.

7C. E. Shannoni, "Communication in the presence of noi e,"

PROC. IRE, vol. 37, pp. 1-12; January, 1949.
8 D. C. Lai, "Representation and analysis of signals; Part VI,
Signal space concepts and Dirac's niotation," The Johnls Hopkiims
Fig. 1 Representation of trianigular wave anl(d University, Baltimore, Md., Wept. No. AFCRC-TI'N-60-167; J;iiit trxv
square w\ av e by three silne functions. 1060.

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1963 1963Youg and Huggins: Represenitationi of Electrocardiolra;n 89r
89

The energy of a signal is defined as the square of the other words they are correlated. Orthoinormlal exponiein-
signal magnitude. The correlation (i.e., degree of simi- tials are nothing other than linear combinations of ordi-
larity in waveform) of two signals may be expressed by nary exponentials. Kautz9 formed the orthonormaliza-
the cosine of the angle between these vector representa- tion in the frequency domain which appeared more ele-
tives in signal space. To represent a signal by certain gant than in the time domain. There is a one-to-one
basis components is equivalent to projecting the signal correspondence between the frequency anid time domain
vector onto a subspace spanned by the corresponding set forms of a functioni, which are related by the well-known
of basis vectors. The projectionis of a signal vector on Laplace tranisformationi
the basis vectors (coordiinates of the subspace) give us a rKf
set of numbers which is the inumerical representative of
the approximationi.
(fk(S) = k(t@)e-stdt (t > 0)
The problem of efficient representation is to find the
least-dimensional subspace for the representationi of ani (P (t) =f
a-Ooo
Ik(s)eslds, (20)
ensemble of signals. Obviously, for an ensemble of -AT
signals, a subspace of no more than M dimensions will be where u- is a positive constant large enough to allow all
sufficient to represent exactly all the signals in this en- poles of 4k(s)est to lie to the left of the path of integra-
semble. There is a standard mathematical method called tion. Based upon the Parseval relation, the orthonormal-
eigenvector process (factor analysis) for determining the ity of basis functions may be written in the frequency
dimensionality m of an ensemble of signals where m < M. domain as
However, the eigenvectors (principal components)
found in this way, in general can not be expressed in
simple functional forms. To specify an eigenvector gen-
300

-jo
C*si(-S)bk(S)
ds
2 rj
= Sik2
(21)
erally requires the specification of its value at every in-
stant. Furthermore, if Al is large, the computation of where 4Di*(-s) indicates the complex conjugate of
the eigenvectors becomes extremely difficult. For these ~b i - s).
reasons, we are forced to find some simpler basis com- Following a modified version of Kautz's formulation,
ponents for signal representationi. a set of orthonormal exponentials may be written in
the form of
ORTHONORMAL EXPONENTIALS
Orthonormnal exponientials were chosen as basis com- '\-2pk S s2-pis + qi
k I
(19-k-l(S) =2S2 + P +S
H
+ qk iS2 + pis + qi
ponents for ECG representation partly because of the S

simplicity in instrumentation and partly because of the V/2pkqk k-1 s2-pis + qi

similarity of the waveform of orthonormal exponentials T 2k (S) - I (22)
and the typical ECG. An important practical advantage s2 + PkS + qk i-1 S + pis + -qi
of orthonormal exponentials is that if a satisfactory where
representation is obtained by the exponentials, a simple
electrical filter network may be synthesized to form an Pk = 2ak
equivalenit signal generator which will generate the ap- qk = axk2 + /k2 (23)
proximating ECGs. There exist extenisive references
on the theoretical aspects of orthonormal exponen- are positive constants. That they are indeed orthonor-
tials for signal representation.9-14 We shall in this sec- mal may be demonstrated by substituting any two func-
tion discuss very briefly the orthonormlal exponentials tions in (22) into (21) and noticing the pole-zero can-
and the filtering process. cellation. l
Ordinary exponential functions in the form of One advantage of orthonormal exponentials is the
exp [- akt ±j3kt] are not orthogonal to one another; in relative simplicity in constructing an orthonormal ex-
ponential filter by cascading a number of similar filter
I W. H. Kautz, "Transient synthesis in the time
domain," IRE sections as shown in Fig. 3. The realization of such sec-
TRANS. ON CIRCUIT THEORY, Vol. CT-1, pp. 29-39; September, 1954. tions with analog equipment is rather simple from their
10 W. H. Huggins, "Signal theory," IRE TRANS. ON CIRCUIT
THEORY, Vol. CT-3, pp. 210-216; December, 1956. frequency domain descriptions. Its digital-computer
'1 H. L. Armstrong, "On finding an orthonormal basis for repre- equivalent may also be formulated using z transforma-
senting transients," IRE TRANS. ON CIRCUIT THEORY, Vol. CT-4,
pp. 286-287; September, 1957. tion. 1 4
12 W. H. Huggins, "Representation and Analysis of Signals: Part The filter is characterized by a weighting function
I, The Use of Orthogonalized Exponentials," The Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Md., Rept. No. AFCRC-TE-57-357; Septem- q5i(r) at the ith output terminal. If a signal v(t) is ap-
ber, 1957. plied to the input of the filter, the response at the ith
13 T. Y. Young and W. H. Huggins, "'Complementary' signals and
orthogonalized exponentials," IRE TRANS. ON CIRCUIT THEORY, terminal will be
vol. CT-9, pp. 362-370; December, 1962.
14 T. Y. Young and W. H. Huggins, "Discrete orthonormal ex-
ponentials," Proc. Natl. Electron Conf., vol. 18, pp. 10-18; October,
1962. c,(t) = fv(l - ')4i(T)dT,
j (24)

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90
v (t) *f (-t)
II
Is2+Pi$
Fig. 3
which is the well-known convolution initegral for filter-
ing process. If instead of v(t), we apply to the input a
unit impulse which is mathematically equivalent to
Dirac's delta function, 3(t), the conivolutioin integral
shown in (24) then becomes
and the orthonormal exponential filter serves as ortho-
normal exponential generator.
Usually a physical signal f(t) starts from t-0 and
extends to the future, and in order to approximate it in
the least-square sense with orthonormal expoinenitials,
one has to evaluate the correlation integral
Notice that this equation is exactly the same as (11)
except that we have changed the integral limit and the
dummy variable from t to r. There is a great similarity
between the correlation integral atnd the conivolution
integral of the filter specified in (24). If we let
and evaluate the convolution integral at the instant
t=O, then (24) becomes
ci(t)
which is precisely the correlation integral shown in (26).
As a result, the orthonormal exponential filter serves the
purpose of experimentally determining the coordinates
of a signal f(t) using orthonormal exponentials as basis
functions. By applying the time-reversed signal f(-t)
to the input, one can measure the coefficients from the
output terminals at the instant corresponding to the
epoch of the signal. For ECG representation, the QRS
and T waves are considered as a single signal, and the
epoch may be defined as the beginning instant of the Q
wave.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIO-MEDICAL ELECTRONICSl f
1')
2
s -p_,s + q2
__ Sp25 +qi2
MIATCHED EXPONENTS
- - O.
s2+ p Q
Thus far we have not discussed the choice of the
values of exponents for constructing orthonormral ex-
ponentials. Commonly, the exponenits used are purely
C.
imaginary, leading to the usual Fourier analysis. Re-
2+ C(t) peated real exponients have been used for ECG repre-
2
p s + qc I +P22+c2 c3(t)
sentation,'5 leadinig to Laguerre funictioins as basis funic-
tions. Neither of these choices was miade with any great
VA-, L /- LETC regard for the characteristics of the signial enisemiible to
I it) I s+P2S+c2 IC4) q_ be represented, and the basis was niot the Imlost efficienit
Orthonormal exponential filter.
possible. This sectioni describes aln iterative procecldure
for determiiining a mlore efficietnt set of (generally coIIm-
plex) basis exponients matched to a giveIn siginal enisemil-
ble as it has beeni carried out for ECGs.
The problemn we consider here is, giveni ani enisemble of
signals, how do we find the values of a finite numiber (say
N) of complex exponenits which are best imiatched to
these signials, amoing the inifiinite numiiber of possible
exponeints. A further restriction in our particular case
(t - r)qO (r)dT -= o(t), (25) is that we can only measure each siginal oIn somiie N-
dimnenision basis associated with the instrumiienitationi
facility. There is, so far, ino straightforward theoretical
solution for this problemii. Our imethod described here is
partly empirical, yet it proved to be very practical for
ECG represenitationi. We would like to call attenitioni to
the fact that the worcd "miatching" is used loosely with
respect to an ensemble (class) of siginals, in our case the
CIO
ECGs, inistead of a single signial. In other words, we try
ci f(r)Oi(T)dT. (26) to find a set of exponenits which minimize the average
error energy over the ensemble of ECGs. ,All ECGs are
then represented by this same set of orthonormal ex-
ponential functions so that they can be comiipared oni the
same basis.
The iterative procedure is illustrated in the block-
diagram shown in Fig. 4. Using the method described in
(28), each ECG of an ensemble is first mneasured on:
v(t) = f(-t) (27) some arbitrary N-dimensional orthonormal-exponeni-
tial basis to obtain a numerical represenitative for each
signal, where N is the dimensionality of the measuring-
apparatus. A D-dimenisionial exponenitial basis is thein,
sought such that D <N anid substantially all the energy
= .--)(T)d measured in the original N-diimensionial space is coIn-
t=0 t=0 tained withini the D-dim-lenisionial space. The remuaining.
(N-D) basis functions may then be chosen empirically.
- f(r>iu(r)dr, (28) The result is a new N-dimenisionial measuremiienit basis,
which usually will be capable of represenitinig more of tlhe
energy in the signal ensemble than the original basis..
The ensemble of the signial is again measured on this
new basis and the process repeated until satisfactory
results are obtainied. Apparenitly, a great deal depend(ls.
uipoIn the efficient utilizationi of the (N-D) degrees of
freedom.
To determine the above D-dimiiensionial exponential
basis, a factor-analysis technique is applied to the meas-
15 T. Y. Young and WV. H. Huggins, "Representation of electro-
cardiogram by orthogonalized exponentials," 1961 IRE INTERNA-
TIONAL CONVENTION RECORD, Pt. 9, pp. 145-153.
19G63' 16Younag anld Hugagins: Reprsenotation of Elecirocardiogaans91 91

|MEASURE EAC EC ON It should be noted that each of the D-weighted eigen-

AR ITRARY N DIMENSIONAL
| EXPONENT IAL BASI S vectors is a linear combination of the N-original ex-
ponentials. Our next task is to approximate the D-
weighted eigenvectors with D new exponential functions
FIND D SIGNIFICANT
FACTORS ( D C N) optimllized in some sense. The method we use is Prony's
method which was originally designed for the approxi-
MEASURE EACH ECG ON|
NEW N D IMENS IONAL|
EXPONENTIAL BASIS|
mationi of a single signal by some exponenitial functions.
Fg4Thitrtv APPROXcIeMATE THE D FACTORS
BY D NEW EXPONENT IAL
Proniy's method gives both the projections and the
BAS IS US ING PRONY' S METHOD
. ~~~~~~~~~EMPI
R ICALLY
values of complex exponents to be used for the approx-
<
CHOOSE N-D
~~~~EXPONENT IAL imation.17 We extended Prony's method to fit our pur-
signal ensemble hasignficntneBASIS
FORM A NEW N
pose of finding D new exponents for an ensemble of
D IWMNS IONAL
E XPONENT IAL BASI S
signals (see Appendix). The resulting D exponents are
optimized in Prony's sense for the approximation of the
Fig. 4-The iterativ-e process for fiinding matched e.xpoiients. D eigenvectors.
With the D new exponents determined, we are left
ured signal ensemble to deternmine the orthogonal direc- with (N-D) degrees of freedom at our disposal. These
tions in the N-dimensioinal measured space in which the (N-D) new exponents are to be chosen empirically with
signal ensemble has significant energy, and the energy great care. It should be noted that the D-dimensional
associated with each direction. The factor analysis that subspace contains less ensemble energy than the original
we use here is, in fact, the well-known eigenvalue prob- N-dimensional subspace due to the neglect of small
lem associated with the correlation matrix P. Suppose eigenvectors and the Prony's approximation. In order
the ensemble consists of -Al signals M> N, each being to gain some improvement, the (N-D) new exponents
approximated by the original N-dimensional basis. Then have to be chosen in such a way that the ensemble
for the kth signal fk (t), energy falling into this (N-D) dimensional subspace
N
more than compensates the energy loss during the re-
duction of subspace dimensionality from N to D.
fk(t) = Cikli(t) + 'Ek(t) (29) Once the new N exponents are known, the ensemble
of ECGs can be measured on this basis. Based on these
The (i, j)th element of the correlation matrix P is then measurements, one may again seek a D-dimensional sub-
defined as space which contains substantially all the energy of the
l1M measurements and empirically decide upon the (N-D)
pij = ECikCjk, (30) new exponents with the hope of further improvement. In
M k=1 this way the whole iterative procedure may be repeated
which is the correlation between ECG projections on the until no further improvenment can be obtained. We
basis functions 4i(t) and projections on the basis func- would like to emnphasize here that the iterative proce-
tions fj(t). The eigenvalue problem is then to find the dure is experimental in nature and similar methods may
eigenvalue Xk's and the eigenvector elemiients tik'S that be devised to find the matched exponents.
satisfy the eigenvalue equation16
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Z Pii~jk = Xktik (31) The signal ensemble selected consisted of eighteen
typical ECGs from six subjects in the hope that the
with given matrix elements pij's. It can be shown that results would apply to ECGs generally. Three orthog-
the eigenvalue Xk represents the signal energy of the onal leads of ECG, x, y and z (SVEC III System) were
ensemble in the direction of the kth eigenvector. recorded simultaneously on a tape recorder for each sub-
P is a NXN matrix; consequently, we would expect ject.18 Measurements were made on orthonormal ex-
to have N eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors. ponentials basis using analog equipment. The factor
However, some eigenvalues may be small and negligible, analysis and modified Prony's method were carried out
leaving us with D significant eigenvalues where D <N. digitally. The representatives were intended for the
The significant directions, D in number, are represented QRS and T waves only, leaving out the small P wave.
by the dominant eigenvectors weighted by the square That the QRS and T waves are represented as a single
roots of the eigenvalues. Since eigenvalues represent sig- signal seems undesirable because they are physiologi-
nal energy, substantially all the energy measured in the cally independent events. The inidependence of QRS
original N-dimensional space will fall into the D-dimen-
sional space provided that the discarded eigenvalues are 17 R. N. McDonough, "Matched Exponents for the Representa-
appreciably small. tion of Signals," Ph.D. dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md.; 1963.
18 0. H. Schmitt and E. Simonson, "The present status of electro-
16 V. N. Faddeeva, "Computational Methods of Linear Algebra," cardiography," Arch. Internal Med., vol. 96, pp. 574-590; November,
Dover Publications, Inc., New York, N. Y.; 1959. 1955.

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92 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIO-MEDICAL ELECT'RONICS /U/)
and T waves in clinical information should emerge from ORIGI NAL
EC5

the statistical results, although they are linearly com-

bined during the signal analysis process. (a)
Fig. 5 shows the effect on one of the eighteen signals APPROXIMiATIONS

of each step in the process of constructing the final basis.

The original ECG as plotted from a tape recording is
shown in Fig. 5(a). Ten real exponents were arbitrarily (b) (c)
chosen to form the initial basis [Fig. 5(b)]. After meas-
urement of the ensemble, the iterative procedure men- (d) (e)
tioned in the last section was carried out, resulting in a Fig. 5-Improvement in ECG approximation
ten-dimensional complex exponential basis. Fig. 5(c) by changing the exponents.
shows our signal as represented on this basis. Little im-
provement resulted indicating poor use of the (N-D) +|(t) +5(t) +9(t)
additional degrees of freedom provided.
The ensemble was measured again on this new basis,
and the first six components of each signal used in the +2 (t) 06 (t ) #10(t)
digital process. Using the eigenvalue process and
Prony's approximation, four exponentials spanning a
four-dimensional space containing 96 per cent of the 03 (t) 07 tt) oil (t)
energy in the original six-dimensional space were found.
Six additional exponents were then chosen empirically.
Four of these were taken approximately equal to the #4 (t) 08 (t) 012 (t
)

four of the preceding basis which were not used in the

digital process. Fig. 5(c) suggests that high-frequency Fig. 6-Orthonormal complex exponential functions.
components are lacking, and in fact there is some indica-
tion of the ratio of real to imaginary frequency neces-
sary. Therefore, two high-frequency exponentials were first pair are used for the approximation of a small Q
added to complete the new ten-dimensional basis. Our wave. The next three pairs are essentially for the QRS
complex, and the last two pairs for the representation of
signal on this basis is shownt in Fig. 5(d), which suggests
that still higher frequencies should be included. The the T wave.
basis functions were accordingly adjusted, with the re- Figs. 7-10 show the approximation of ECGs of four
sult showni in Fig. 5(e). different subjects using the same twelve basis functions.
One further iteration showed no improvemeint. This We observe that the general waveforms are preserved
seems to indicate that our ten basis functions are fairlyand our basis is adequate for a variety of ECGs. The
matched to the waveform of our ensemble of signals. signals in Figs. 9 and 10 are not among the original
However, we noticed that in some cases, there existed eighteen ECGs used for finding the matched exponents,
some small Q waves which were not represented by our showing that this basis may be adequate for ECGs
basis. Since these small Q waves contain little signal generally. This is indeed an efficient representation con-
energy, the iterative procedure, which is based on maxi- sidering that only twelve numbers are needed to char-
mum energy consideration, becomes inadequate. A acterize an electrocardiogram.
reasonable remedy for this is to add empirically one The matched exponents we found are by no meains
more pair of high-frequency complex exponential func- unique. Nevertheless,we believe that the use of complex
tions. Our final basis consists of six pairs of complex exponentials and the idea of matched exponents is a
exponentials spanning a twelve-dimensional signal space. great step forward compared with the Fourier series and
real exponentials. Our result is obviously an improve-
These twelve exponentials will be used for the representa-
tion of all our ECGs so that they can be compared on ment over the experimental result presented by Young
the same basis. The exponents are and Huggins"5 using Laguerre functions for ECG repre-
sentation.
S1,2 -32.0 + j310.0 In order to compare with Fourier analysis, we lhave
S3,4 --40.0 + jl74.5 carried out the Fourier series approximation of few
ECGs on a digital computer. The error energy in ECG
S5, --22.0 ij 82.1 approximation usinig our twelve-dimensional complex
S7,X =-28.6 ± j 39.2 exponentials is in average about 5 per cent. Using the
sq, I =-12.0 +j 22.3 same number of Fourier components, the error energy
of our examples ranges from 28 to 48 per cent. On the
(32)
S11,2 = - 4.2 + j 13.0, other hand, in order to limit the error energy within 5
in units of sec-1. Shown in Fig. 6 are the twelve ortho- per cent limit, we would need 28 sine and cosine func-
normal exponentials that we use as basis functions. The tions plus a dc term for ECG representation.

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1963 Young and Huggins: Representation of Electrocardiograms 93

ORIGINAL ECG$ APPROXIMATING ECG$ f(-t- .

f I)

x(t) xa (t) (a) ; (d)

y (t) (Ct) Ef (t)

f t)
| E, (t)
(b) -- (e)
z (t) Za (t) t t

Fig. 7 Representation of electrocardiograms by

twelve matched complex exponentials. Ea ( t) (

f ( t)
(c) tE t tO
f
ORIGINAL ECGs APPROXIMATING ECO.

X (t) X, (t)
Fig. 11 -Optimum epoch detection. (a) ECG signal reversed in time.
(b) Signal energy and error energy as functions of epoch. (c) Ap-
proximating signal energy as a function of epoch. (d) ECG signal.
y(t) y0(t)
(e) Approximating signal with epoch at to. (f) Error signal asso-
ciated with the approximation.

Z (t) Za(t) "optimum" epoch corresponding to a projection with

maximum magnitude. Since our basis functions are
Fig. 8-Representation of electrocardiograms by fairly well matched to the ECGs, this optimum epoch
twelve matched complex exponentials. should be the "true" one as far as the QRS and T com-
plex is concerned. We have experimentally carried out
ORIGINAL ECGs APPROXIMATING ECG* this optimum epoch detection on a digital computer,
which supports our assumption that the optimum epoch
is the "true" epoch.
The epoch-detection problem is complicated by the
y (t) y0t)) presence of some dc voltages superimposed on the ECG
signal during the tape recording. To simplify the pres-
entation of our idea of optimum epoch detection, let us
Z (t) ZoGt)
first assume that there is no such dc voltage existing.
Assuming an epoch at t, the signal energy for the time
Fig. 9 Representation of electrocardiograms by reversed signal f( - t) is then
twelve matched complex exponentials.
Et

ORIGINAL ECOs APPROXIMATING ECRi

Ef (t) -
-0o
f(-t) 12 dt. (33)
X (t) X (t)

It has been shown that the error energy Ef(t) as a func-

tion of epoch t can be very easily evaluated using "com-
y (t) y. (t) plementary" error concept."3 The energy of the approxi-
mating signal as a function of epoch may be written as
z (t) Z2Mt) Ea(t) = E,(t) - E0(t). (34)
Fig. 10 Representation of electrocardiograms by Fig. 11 illustrates the process of optimum epoch detec-
twelve matched complex exponentials. tion. It is obvious from Fig. 11(c) that there exists the
optimum epoch to associated with maximum approxi-
mating-signal energy. It is also clear that this epoch
THE EPOCH AND DC LEVEL PROBLEM does coincide with the true epoch of the QRS wave. If
We have previously assumed that the epoch (i.e., the a three-lead ECG system is used, we then choose as
origin in time) of an ECG is already specified. In prac- epoch the instant for which the sum of the three ap-
tice, however, the ECG epoch is not known, and the proximating-signal energies maximum. is

determination of epoch is one of the problems in auto- During the recording of ECGs on magnetic tape,
matic processing of electrocardiograms. some dc voltages are very often superimposed on
This epoch problem can be solved by finding the ECGs. Two questions then arise. Does the dc level af-
particular epoch at which the approximation contains fect the determination of optimum epoch, and how do
maximum energy. In other words, the projection of a we get rid of this dc voltage?
signal in the subspace spanned by the orthonormal basis To answer the first question, we notice that if the
varies as we choose different epochs. There exists an projection of a certain signal on the orthonormal ex-

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94 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIO-MEDICAL ELECTRONICS I //1)!
ponietntial basis is orthogonal to the projection of the Its ith derivative would theni coInsist of the same ele-
ECG on the same basis, the superpositioni of this signial mentary exponential funictioIIs,
and the ECG will not affect the determiniatioin of opti-
mum epoch for the ECG. The eniergy of a dc voltage is f i) (t) =- L dke k. (36)
evenly distributed over the whole tinme initerval, while k2-i
the energy of an ECG is concentrated mostly in the TIhus, f, fP"I f('), t 'e are niot linearly independent
QRS interval which is a short initerval compared with anid mnust satisfy somiie equationi,
the period of an ECG. Thus, we intuitively feel that the
correlation between the projections of an ECG anid a b,f(8) + 1f(n 1) +
b(nl . + bif(1) +f = 0, (37)
dc voltage is rather small. This, is indeed the case. For where bk's are certaini conistanits. This eqtuation mllay
a typical ECG, we find that the cosine of the angle be- also be writteni in the formii of
tween the two projections is approximiiately 0.22 which
corresponds to a signal energy of 5 per cent. Conise- [b sn++ b isn + + bis + 0]f(t)
-
- 0, (38)
quenitly, the effect of dc voltage on epoch determnina- where s is regarded to be a differenitial operator. Ftir-
tion is small, and if we are able to limit the dc level to a thermiiore, Sk'S in (35) are the roots of the characteristic
sufficiently small value, its effect will be negligible. This equationi
can be done rather simply by first estimating a dc value
and subtractinig it from our signal so as to keep the b sn + b,_lsn-' + (39) + bis + 1 = 0.
residue dc voltage smnall. The voltage at anly instanit Consequently, if we kniow in some nner the bk's, we
prior to the P wave can be taken as the first estimlationi canl solve for the s"'s.
of dc voltage, anid this correction has beeni carried out Now, suppose we are initerested in approximating f(t)
very easily on a digital computer. in terms of its first n derivatives, viz.,
The procedure for solving the epoch anid dc probleml
is summarized as follows: we first estimate roughly the n

dc value and subtract it digitally from the ECG signal. f(t) _ - E bkf (k) (t) . (40)
k=l
The residual dc voltage will then be smnall and its effect
on the determination of optimlumti epoch negligible. We That is, if n is smiialler than the true niumnber of exponeni-
then proceed to detect the optimumii epoch using a least- tials in f(t), the approximationi will niot be exact andcl
square-error criterion. The average voltage between the there will be somiie error e(t)
P wave and the optimum epoch is takeni as the residual
dc voltage to be subtracted. With the epoch and dc value f(t) + E bkf (k)(/) = E(t) # 0. (41)
being determined, the projections of ECGs oni anl ex- A=i
ponential basis may be measured by the filterilig tech- In this case, it is reasoniable to pick the bk's so as to
nique described in the last section. The whole process of
epoch detection, dc value evaluation and(l ECG repre- minimiize the e(t) |. Thus, by the usual least-square
senitation are performed automatically oni anl IBM\-7090 theory,
digital computer.
f/ (i) (t)f (t)di = - E bk jf(i) ()f (k) (t)dt. (42)
CONCIUSIO)N A;-

We have outlined the general principle of siginal TIhere are n such equationis for i= 1, 2, n. Notinig
representation. In particular we have shown an itera- that ff(i)(t)f(k)(t)dt are kniowin conistanits for given]f(t),
tive method to find a set of matched exponenits. These the bk's canl be found from (42). Substituting the bk's
sets of exponents formii a set of orthonormiial exponien- inito (39) onie can theni solve for the Sk's.
tials which are very efficienit for ECG represenitationis. Thus, we miiay take the n exponienitial funictionis eSkt for
With six pairs of orthonormiial exponienitials, the average the approximnationi of f(t). However, this approxiimlationi
error for the representationi of QRS anid T waves is is optilmlumll only in Prony's senise by which we meani that
about 5 per cent. With this efficienit representationi, during the process of finiding Sk'S we are approximnating
further statistical analysis such as factor analysis, cor- f(t) in the least-square senise with its (lerivatives,
relation analysis, nmultidimenisionial regression, etc. may f(k)(t), rather thani the exponienitials.
be carried out with ease. For aln enisemiible of m signials whose values as funlc-
tionls of timiie are fl(t), f2(t), etc., (42) may be
APPENDI X miio(lifie(l inito the formii

Givein
PRLONY'S AMIETHOD
Jn r
f(t) =
71

r, Ck.elkt.
/C.l
ii (35) 1E , .1 Ef M(I,()fj(k)(t.) (t +-
A~~~~l
b, r[~ tEr

j=l
f (43)

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1963 Okada: Review of Vector Electrocardiography 95

and the remaining procedure would be the same as the ACKNOWLEDGMENT

case of a single f(t). The set of exponents Sk'S calculated
in this way is optimized in Prony's sense for the whole The authors are indebted to Prof. D. C. Lai of North-
ensemble. eastern University and Prof. R. N. McDonough of the
It is not necessary to use differential operators for University of Delaware for their ideas and contributions
Prony's method. With an operator H(s), (39) becomes in the section of matched exponents. They also wish to
thank P. G. Tittel for his technical assistance and Dr.
bnHn + b,-1Hn-' + + bjH + 1 = 0. (44) H. V. Pipberger of the Veterans Administration Hos-
knowing bk's one may solve for Hk(s) which in turn will pital at Mt. Alto, Washington, D. C., for the supplying
give the solutions for Sk's. A full discussion of this ex- of electrocardiographic data and the offering of advice
tension is out of the scope of this paper.'7 in medical aspects.

A Critical R leiew ofVectorElectrocardiography*

ROBERT H. OKADAt, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE

Summary-The theoretical basis for information retrieval and that hypothesis to a high degree of accuracy on normal
analysis in vector electrocardiography is examined with a view to es- subj ects.
tablishing fundamental limitations on commonly used clinical tech- At this point it seems advisable to reiterate a mean-
niques.
The basis for equivalent heart generators is specified and rela- ingful definition for the "dipole equivalent generator of
tionships between them are analyzed. An "ideal" lead system is the heart." Faced with a nonlinear, anisotropic, hetero-
defined and related to practical clinical schemes. Limitations of an geneous medium in which there is an electrical gener-
"ideal" lead system are discussed in view of experimental findings ator, one can define the equivalent dipole as that fixed
which question its diagnostic applicability for abnormal heart condi-
tions. location, variable moment, dipole current generator
Various analytical tools are related and their practical advantages which, when placed in a linear, isotropic, homogeneous
and disadvantages outlined. The advisability of vectorcardiography torso-shaped medium, exactly reproduces the body sur-
as a total replacement for present clinical scaler techniques is seri- face potentials of the actual human subject. If the non-
ously questioned. linearity, anisotropy, and heterogeneity effects are pro-
INTRODUCTION
nounced, the equivalent heart dipole as defined above
will have these effects lumped in its determination. If
XV ECTOR ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY started a single fixed location dipole in an ideal torso-shaped
from a desire to display time phasing of scalar medium is unable to reproduce exactly, or to a sufficient
electrocardiograms in a suitable manner. Phase degree of accuracy, the actual boundary surface poten-
data offered new information concerning electrical ac- tials, one can attempt to find a more complicated equiv-
tivity of the heart and the vector cardiogram was inter- alent generator. Of the infinite number of possibilities
pretable as the locus of the tip of the heart vector (a which exist, two have been analyzed. They are 1) multi-
dipole) as it went through its cycle. Originally the single ple dipole generators4 and 2) multipole generators.56
fixed location dipole was merely an hypothesis.' Later, Formulas exist which will completely determine these
precise cancellation experiments2'3 appeared to verify generators from body surface potential distributions,
*
Received December 14, 1962; revised manuscript received and indeed, they both require weighted surface integrals
April 30, 1963. This work was supported in part by the U. S. Public of potential. These two methods converge to the same
Health Service Grant No. H339C10.
t President, Rho Associates, Inc., San Carlos, Calif. Formerly formulas for a single dipole generator, and more sig-
Technical Director, Epsco-Pacific, Menlo Park, Calif. nificantly they yield the same dipole component if there
1 W. Einthoven, G. Fahr and A. De Waart, "On the direction and
manifest size of the variations of potential in the human heart and exists a more complicated generator.
on the influence of the position of the heart on the form of the electro-
cardiogram," Am. Heart. J., vol. 40, pp. 163-211; August, 1950. 4D. Gabor and C. V. Nelson, "Determination of the resultant di-
2 0. H. Schmitt, R. B. Levine, and E. Simonson, "Electrocardio- pole of the heart from measurement on the body surface," J. Appl.
graphic mirror pattern studies. I. Experimental validity tests of the Phys., vol. 25, pp. 413-460; April, 1954.
dipole hypothesis and of the central terminal theory," Am. Heart J., 6 D. B. Geselowitz, "Multipole represenitation for an equivalent
vol. 45, pp. 416-428; March, 1953. cardiac generator," PROC. IRE, vol. 48, pp. 75-79; January, 1960.
3 E. Frank, "Measurement and significance of cancellation poten- 6 G. C. K. Yeh, and J. Martinek, "Comparison of surface poten-
tials on the human subject," Circulation, vol. 11, pp. 937-951; June, tials due to several singularity representations of the human heart,"
1955. Bull. M1ath. Biophys., vol. 19, pp. 293-308; December, 1957.

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