Key result
AD8232 and MAX30003 ECG acquisition paths show near-perfect morphological agreement with synthetic signals.
Why the study?
A comparative technical evaluation of two ECG acquisition paths based on AD8232 and MAX30003 under controlled laboratory conditions was needed to assess their morphological and spectral characteristics.
Under synthetic test conditions, both AD8232- and MAX30003-based ECG acquisition paths provide highly comparable morphological signal quality, although the MAX30003 implementation demonstrated lower relative out-of-band spectral noise.
Both paths deliver comparable post-processed ECG morphology; leaves open whether spectral differences affect real-world signal quality or device selection.
Purpose This study presents a comparative technical evaluation of two implemented electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition paths based on AD8232 and MAX30003 under controlled laboratory conditions. The analog front-end paths were designed in accordance with the reference circuits and design recommendations. Methods Synthetic ECG signals were generated using a patient simulator for heart rates of 30, 60, 80, and 100 BPM and were recorded simultaneously from both acquisition paths at a sampling frequency of 128 Hz. The processing pipeline comprised time-axis standardization, baseline correction, local cross-correlation-based synchronization, linear amplitude alignment, QRS detection using a simplified Pan-Tompkins-inspired procedure, and median-centered amplitude standardization. Signal similarity after preprocessing was assessed using time-domain metrics, including Pearson correlation, MAE, RMSE, and NRMSE. In addition, spectral analysis based on Welch’s method was performed using absolute bandpower values and relative bandpower indices. Results After synchronization and normalization, both acquisition paths showed very high morphological agreement. Error metrics remained low and comparable between recordings. Spectral analysis revealed marked differences in absolute power, reflecting properties of the complete acquisition chains rather than signal quality alone. Relative spectral indices indicated lower 50 Hz interference and lower high-frequency content in the MAX30003-based path. Conclusions Under the tested synthetic and controlled conditions, both implemented ECG acquisition paths provided comparable post-processed morphological representations of the ECG signal, while differing in spectral characteristics. The MAX30003-based path showed lower relative out-of-band spectral content. However, these findings should be interpreted as implementation-specific technical observations rather than evidence of general device superiority. Further validation in human recordings and real-world conditions is required.
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Gajdzik et al. (2026) studied Electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition. MAX30003-based ECG acquisition path vs. AD8232-based ECG acquisition path was evaluated on Morphological agreement (Pearson correlation) (Mean Pearson r 0.991). Under controlled laboratory conditions, both AD8232- and MAX30003-based ECG acquisition paths demonstrated very high morphological agreement with a mean Pearson correlation of 0.991 for synthetic signals.
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