SEPARATION OF TWIN FETAL ECG FROM MATERNAL ECG USING EMPIRICAL MODE DECOMPOSITION TECHNIQUES

In this study, using a combination of standard Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) and Complete Empirical Mode Decomposition (CEMD) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a new method was introduced to separate twin Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) from maternal ECG. The data which were the results of modeling fetal and maternal ECG belonged to 10 mothers with a sampling frequency of 250 Hz. In this method, first R-wave of maternal ECG was determined and then maternal QRS is removed. Further, to clarify these changes and increase resistance to environmental noises, PCA was used. In the next step, all FHRs related to twin fetuses were extracted from signals. Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) was used for denoising. Using the proposed method for noise with an amplitude of over 10 dB, the FHR of the first and second (if any) fetuses were separated from maternal ECG with an accuracy of 93.3% and 91.1%, respectively. The goal was to improve signal processing dimensions of fetal ECG and provides deeper insight about this issue using EEMD technique. It was tested on a twin fetus with the results suggesting its effectiveness even with increased number of fetuses with slight modifications.