System and method for the detection and removal of radio frequency noise artifact from biopotential signals

1. A method of removing radio frequency noise in sampled biopotential signals comprising the steps of:

dividing the biopotential signals into epochs of at least two samples of biopotential signals;

analyzing each of said epochs to detect whether each of said analyzed epochs of the biopotential signal contains radio frequency noise;

removing from the biopotential signal each entire epoch that contains radio frequency noise and replacing each of said epochs removed from said biopotential signal with other epochs of the actual detected biopotential signal that do not include radio frequency noise.

2. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing said epochs comprises analyzing said epochs with a hardware detection circuit.

3. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing said epochs comprises analyzing said epochs for changes in the root mean square power of the epoch that are characteristic of high frequency noise.

4. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing said epochs comprises analyzing said epochs for changes in the slew rate of said epochs.

5. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing said epochs comprises

analyzing said epochs with a hardware detection circuit; and

analyzing said epochs for changes in the root mean square power of the epoch that are characteristic of high frequency noise.

6. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing said epochs comprises

analyzing said epochs with a hardware detection circuit; and

analyzing said epochs for changes in the slew rate of said epochs.

7. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of removing said epochs that contain radio frequency noise comprises the steps of:

maintaining a buffer of the most recent epochs that do not contain radio frequency noise;

replacing an epoch containing radio frequency noise with an epoch from said buffer that does not contain radio frequency noise.

8. The method of removing radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 7 further comprising the step of adjusting an edge on an epoch used as a replacement epoch so that a first value of each epoch used to replace a removed epoch is equal to a last value of a previous epoch.

9. The method for removing radio frequency noise in sampled biopotential signals of claim 1 wherein said step of analyzing each of said epochs comprises analyzing said epochs for changes in spectral power distribution of the epoch.

10. A system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in sampled biopotential signals comprising:

a radio frequency noise detection circuit that analyzes the biopotential signal on an epoch-by-epoch basis to determine if any such epoch contains radio frequency noise wherein each of said epochs includes at least two samples of biopotential signals;

a processor for independently examining said epochs of the biopotential signal to determine if said epochs contain radio frequency noise and for modifying the biopotential signal by removing each entire epoch in the biopotential signal that contains radio frequency noise and replacing each said removed epoch with an epoch of the actual detected biopotential signal that does not contain radio frequency noise.

11. The system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 10 wherein said radio frequency noise detection circuit comprises:

a first stage transistor coupled to a patient lead through which the biopotential signal is obtained;

a second stage transistor coupled to said first stage transistor;

wherein said first stage transistor is normally on thereby keeping said second stage transistor off, and when current through the patient lead exceeds a base bias current said first stage transistor turns off and said second stage transistor turns on indicating the presence of radio frequency noise.

12. The system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 10 wherein said processor analyzes said epochs for changes in the root mean square power of the epoch that are characteristic of high frequency noise.

13. The system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 10 wherein said processor analyzes said epochs for changes in the slew rate of said epochs.

14. The system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 10 further comprising a buffer of the most recent epochs that do not contain radio frequency noise; and wherein said processor replaces an epoch containing radio frequency noise with an epoch from said buffer that does not contain radio frequency noise.

15. The system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals of claim 10 wherein said processor adjusts an edge on an epoch used as a replacement epoch so that a first value of each epoch used to replace a removed epoch is equal to a last value of a previous epoch.

16. A system for detecting the presence of radio frequency noise in biopotential signals comprising:

a radio frequency noise detection circuit that analyzes the biopotential signal on an epoch-by-epoch basis to determine if any such epoch contains radio frequency noise;

a processor for independently examining changes in the spectral power distribution of said epochs of the biopotential signal to determine if said epochs contain radio frequency noise and for modifying the biopotential signal by removing each entire epochs in the biopotential signal that contain radio frequency noise and replacing said removed epochs with epochs that do not contain radio frequency noise.