Bayesian P Wave Amplitude Estimation

The P wave is an important feature of the electrocardiogram (ECG) because it can be used to diagnose atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias.Most published P wave detection algorithms are merely estimate the time of the P wave, rather than the amplitude.We propose a simple algorithm for estimating the P wave amplitude.The algorithm is based on a parametric model that can be globally optimized, is computationally efficient, and only requires a single lead of the ECG.We used the QT Database for this study.The estimated P wave amplitudes had a Pearson correlation with the expert annotations of 0.94 (p< 0.0001).