Optimization of the Compression Parameters of a Phonocardiographic Telediagnosis System Using Genetic Algorithms

Auscultation of the heart is a medical technique that still today is used to provide a fast diagnosis about the heart condition. Compression of the heart sounds (or phonocardiogram) is very convenient to reduce bandwidth in telediagnosis systems that aid the physician in the evaluation of the cardiovascular state. The compression algorithm used depends on several parameters, which can take a diversity of values. Genetic algorithms have been used to obtain the optimal set of values for the compression parameters that optimize the performance of the compression for a test set of cardiac recordings. The optimized results were obtained very quickly, and optimal values agreed for (almost) all the test records.

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