The Periodic Moving Average Filter for Removing Motion Artifacts from PPG Signals

The Periodic Moving Average Filter for Removing Motion Artifacts from PPG Signals

The measurement accuracy for heart rate or SpO2 using photoplethysmography (PPG) is influenced by how well the noise from motion artifacts and other sources can be removed. Eliminating the motion artifacts is particularly difficult since its frequency band overlaps that of the basic PPG signal. Therefore, we propose the Periodic Moving Average Filter (PMAF) to remove motion artifacts. The PMAF is based on the quasi-periodicity of the PPG signals. After segmenting the PPG signal on periodic boundaries, we average the mth samples of each period. As a result, we remove the motion artifacts well without the deterioration of the characteristic point.

The measurement accuracy for heart rate or SpO2 using photoplethysmography (PPG) is influenced by how well the noise from motion artifacts and other sources can be removed. Eliminating the motion artifacts is particularly difficult since its frequency band overlaps that of the basic PPG signal. Therefore, we propose the Periodic Moving Average Filter (PMAF) to remove motion artifacts. The PMAF is based on the quasi-periodicity of the PPG signals. After segmenting the PPG signal on periodic boundaries, we average the mth samples of each period. As a result, we remove the motion artifacts well without the deterioration of the characteristic point.