R-DECO: An open-source Matlab based graphical user interface for the detection and correction of R-peaks

Many of the existing ECG toolboxes focus on the derivation of heart rate variability features from RR-intervals. By doing so, they assume correct detection of the QRS-complexes. However, it is highly likely that not all detections are correct. Therefore, it is recommended to visualize the actual R-peak positions in the ECG signal and allow manual adaptations.

As a solution, we present R-DECO, an easy-to-use graphical user interface for the detection and correction of R-peaks. Within R-DECO, the R-peaks are detected by an adaptation of the Pan-Tompkins algorithm. Instead of using all the pre-processing steps of the latter algorithm, the proposed algorithm uses only an envelope-based procedure to flatten the ECG and enhance the QRS-complexes. The algorithm obtained an overall sensitivity of 99.60% and positive predictive value of 99.69% on the MIT/BIH arrhythmia database. Additionally, R-DECO includes support for several input data formats for ECG signals, three basic filters, the possibility to load other R-peak locations and intuitive methods to correct ectopic, wrong, or missed heartbeats. All functionalities can be accessed via the graphical user interface and the analysis results can be exported as Matlab or Excel files. 

Through its easy-to-use-graphical user interface, R-DECO allows both clinicians and researchers to use all functionalities, without previous knowledge. R-DECO has been developed on Windows 10 using Matlab 2018a. GUIDE, MATLAB’s GUI development environment, was used to design the GUI of R-DECO. It has been tested and proven to be functional for older Matlab versions going back to Matlab 2016a.

众多现有的心电图工具箱专注于从RR间期中导出心率变异性特征，从而假定QRS复合波的检测是正确的。然而，并非所有检测都可能是准确的。因此，建议可视化心电图信号中实际的R波峰位置，并允许进行手动调整。为此，我们提出了R-DECO，一个易于使用的图形用户界面，用于检测和校正R波峰。在R-DECO中，R波峰的检测是通过Pan-Tompkins算法的改进实现的。该算法并非采用该算法的所有预处理步骤，而是仅使用基于包络的程序来平坦心电图并增强QRS复合波。该算法在MIT/BIH心律失常数据库上获得了99.60%的整体敏感性和99.69%的阳性预测值。此外，R-DECO支持多种心电图信号输入数据格式，提供三种基本过滤器，允许加载其他R波峰位置，并具备直观的方法来校正早搏、错误或遗漏的心跳。所有功能均可通过图形用户界面访问，分析结果可导出为Matlab或Excel文件。凭借其易于使用的图形用户界面，R-DECO使得临床医生和研究人员能够无需先验知识即可使用所有功能。R-DECO基于Windows 10和Matlab 2018a开发，使用了MATLAB的GUI开发环境GUIDE来设计R-DECO的用户界面。经过测试，已被证明适用于回溯至Matlab 2016a的旧版Matlab。