Method and System for Monitoring Physiological Signals/Health Data, Defibrillation, and Pacing in the Presence of Electromagnetic Interference

A system adapted for at least one health-related application selected from the physiological monitoring of an individual's health data, cardiac defibrillation, and pacing in the presence of EMI waveforms generated by an MRI scanner during an MRI scan of said individual, said system comprising:

• at least one sensor adapted for collecting at least one input signal containing physiological data from the body of said individual;
• at least one EMI detector based on at least one time-domain feature having a different range of values for said EMI waveforms compared with the range of values of said time-domain feature for said physiological data, to identify EMI waveforms within said at least one input signal;
• and
• at least one processing element for minimizing said EMI waveforms within the time intervals in which said EMI waveforms are detected, in which said at least one processing element is selected from:
• a. at least one delay line for holding said input signal during the time required for EMI detection;
• b. at least one switch for performing at least two operations on the output signal from said at least one EMI detector, wherein said operations are selected from:
• i. passing said output signal from said at least one EMI detector to at least one data-acquisition element during the time intervals in which no EMI is detected;
• and
• ii. discarding said output signal during the time intervals in which EMI is detected;
• c. at least one element for regulating the switching-on delay of said at least one switch after EMI is detected, which determines the duration of the discarded segment of said input signal during EMI periods;
• d. at least one sample-and-hold element for holding the last value of said input signal preceding the time interval in which said EMI waveforms are detected;
• and
• e. at least one filter element selected from:
• i. an RF filter respecting the Larmor frequency of the magnetic-field source generating said EMI;
• and
• ii. a low-pass filter respecting the difference between the frequency of said EMI and said physiological data for filtering residual noise and EMI from said input signal.

A method adapted for at least one health-related application selected from the physiological monitoring of an individual's health data, defibrillation, and pacing in the presence of EMI waveforms generated by an Mill scanner during an Mill scan of said individual, said method comprising:

• collecting at least one input signal containing physiological data from the body of said individual;
• detecting EMI waveforms within said at least one input signal based on at least one time-domain feature having a different range of values for EMI waveforms compared with the range of values of said time-domain feature for said physiological data;
• and
• processing said at least one input signal to minimize said EMI within the time intervals in which said EMI waveforms are detected.