Novel methodology of cardiac health recognition based on ECG signals and evolutionary-neural system

• Published in: Expert systems with applications Vol. 92; pp. 334 - 349
• Main Author: Plawiak, Pawel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Algorithms; Arrhythmia; Biomedical signal processing and analysis; Cardiovascular disease; Classification; Discrete Fourier transform; ECG; Electrocardiography; Evolutionary algorithms; Evolutionary-neural system; Feature extraction; Feature extraction and selection; Fourier transforms; Fragments; Genetic algorithm; Heart diseases; K-nearest neighbor algorithm; Machine learning; Machine learning algorithms; Methodology; Myocardium; Neural networks; Optimization; Recognition; Research methodology; Signal analysis; Support vector machine; Evolutionary-neural system; Machine learning algorithms; Neural networks; Genetic algorithm; Discrete Fourier transform; K-nearest neighbor algorithm; Classification; ECG; Biomedical signal processing and analysis; Support vector machine; Feature extraction and selection
• ISSN: 0957-4174; 1873-6793
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2017.09.022

•New methodology based on single lead and analysis of longer (10-s) ECG signal fragments is proposed.•New training based on genetic algorithm coupled with 10-fold cross-validation is employed.•17 classes: normal sinus rhythm + pacemaker rhythm + 15 cardiac disorders are recognized.•New feature extraction and selection based on PSD, DFT and GA are employed.•Recognition sensitivity at a level of 90.20% (98 errors per 1000 classifications) is promising. This article presents an innovative research methodology that enables the efficient classification of cardiac disorders (17 classes) based on ECG signal analysis and an evolutionary-neural system. From a social point of view, it is extremely important to prevent heart diseases, which are the most common cause of death worldwide. According to statistical data, 50 million people are at risk for cardiac diseases worldwide. The subject of ECG signal analysis is very popular. However, due to the great difficulty of the task undertaken, and high computational complexity of existing methods, there remains substantial work to perform. This research collected 1000 fragments of ECG signals from the MIH-BIH Arrhythmia database for one lead, MLII, from 45 patients. An original methodology that consisted of the analysis of longer (10-s) fragments of the ECG signal was used (an average of 13 times less classifications). To enhance the characteristic features of the ECG signal, the spectral power density was estimated (using Welch’s method and a discrete Fourier transform). Genetic optimization of parameters and genetic selection of features were tested. Pre-processing, normalization, feature extraction and selection, cross-validation and machine learning algorithms (SVM, kNN, PNN, and RBFNN) were used. The best evolutionary-neural system, based on the SVM classifier, obtained a recognition sensitivity of 17 myocardium dysfunctions at a level of 90.20% (98 errors per 1000 classifications, accuracy = 98.85%, specificity = 99.39%, time for classification of one sample = 0.0023 [s]). Against the background of the current scientific literature, these results are some of the best results to date.