Development of an Adaptive Acquisition and Transmission System for Digital Processing of ECG Signals under Variable n-QAM Schemes

José Ricardo Cárdenas-Valdez; Fortunato Ramírez-Arzate; Ángel Humberto Corral-Domínguez; Carlos Hurtado-Sánchez; Andrés Calvillo-Téllez; Enrique Efrén García-Guerrero

doi:10.17488/RMIB.44.4.8

Authors

José Ricardo Cárdenas-Valdez Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, México https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5437-8215
Fortunato Ramírez-Arzate Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, México https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6107-1826
Ángel Humberto Corral-Domínguez Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, México https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2009-6161
Carlos Hurtado-Sánchez Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, México https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9913-592X
Andrés Calvillo-Téllez CITEDI-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3721-5630
Enrique Efrén García-Guerrero Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, México https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5052-6850

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17488/RMIB.44.4.8

Keywords:

ECG, n-QAM, RF, telemedicine, transceiver

Abstract

In the post-pandemic era, it is critical to monitor and transmit biomedical signals, specifically ECG. This study aims to develop a platform that enables signal acquisition, adaptation, and transmission using different n-QAM modulation schemes. The system comprises an acquisition stage implemented in the 2.5 GHz band employing the Olimex module and electrodes equipped with an Ag/AgCl type sensor. To effectively manage appropriate bandwidths during implementation of the various n-QAM modulation schemes, an adaptive algorithm was developed and applied to the system. The power amplifier was operated in the linear region to enhance the crest factor and achieve an ACPR close to 30 dBc, demonstrating an appropriate demodulation of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, it is feasible to shift to modulation schemes above 64-QAM in order to detect high frequencies and perform a subsequent Fourier analysis. As a telemedicine proposal, the developed system offers flexibility in signal acquisition, data storage, and digitalization, in addition to a multivariable n-QAM scheme; the hardware implementation ensures n-QAM scheme compatibility. For the purpose of contributing to telemedicine via RF transmission, the system was executed on an AD9361 transceiver, which removes the requirement for a traditional signal vector generator and enables optimal control of the tones to be transmitted.

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