Minimizing MR Gradient Artefacts on ECG Signals for Cardiac Gating based on an Adaptive Digital Filter

적응 디지털 필터 기반의 MRI Cardiac Gating을 위한 심전도 신호의 MR Gradient 잡음 최소화 방법

In Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI), the QRS complex of ECG is used as a trigger signal for MRI scan. But, gradient and RF(radio frequency) artifacts which are caused to static and dynamic field in MRI scanner cause interference in the ECG. Also, the signal shape of theses artifacts can be similar to the QRS-complex, causing possible misinterpretation during patient monitoring and false gating of the MRI. In case of using general FIR or IIR band-pass filters for minimizing the artifacts, artifact-reduction-ratio is not excellent. So, an adaptive real-time digital filter is proposed for reduction of noise by gradient and RF(radio frequency) artifacts. The proposed filter for MRI-Gating is based on the noise-canceller with NLMS(Normalized Least Mean Square) algorithm. The reference signals of the adaptive noise canceller are a combination of the noisy three channel ECG signals. In conclusions, the proposed method showed the acceptable quality of ECG signal with sufficient SNR for gating the MRI and possibility of real time implementation.