ECG from OpenBCI with 3 & 5 electrodes with up to 4 digital channels with noise reduction

Last Updated on September 10, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org

The OpenBCI documentation shows:

https://docs.openbci.com/GettingStarted/Biosensing-Setups/ECGSetup/

• how to make a 3-Lead ECG with Cyton or Ganglion Boards. It first shows step by step for a 3-Lead ECG how to get one channel of live ECG data.

• Then it shows step by step in the 5-Lead ECG guide how to get 4 channels of live ECG data. The second instruction is build on the guide for a 3-Lead ECG and adds only a few additional steps.

• The OpenBCI instruction uses the standard placement of leads for a 5-lead ECG

• The OpenBCI instruction also shows how to minimize noise:

https://docs.openbci.com/Troubleshooting/minimizingNoise/

• We still suggest to use HeartPy for cleaning up very noisy ECG signals:

HeartPy – Python Heart Rate Analysis Toolkit can also be used for noisy ECG data

This source says, an ECG lead is:

https://geekymedics.com/understanding-an-ecg/

a graphical representation of the heart’s electrical activity which is calculated by analysing data from several ECG electrodes.

We are confused about the 3-Lead & 5-Lead ECG OpenBCI devices:

https://docs.openbci.com/GettingStarted/Biosensing-Setups/ECGSetup/

Are these:

1. a 1 channel Ganglion board with 3 electrodes?

2. a 4 channel Cyton board with 5 electrodes?

3. The Ganglion board has 4 channels. Why is a Cyton board used for the “5-Lead ECG“ OpenBCI device with 4 channels? Is a Ganglion board with 4 channels not sufficient for a 4 channel ECG device?

4. The Data streaming example of the OpenBCI ECG example shows only 3 channels of ECG:

https://docs.openbci.com/GettingStarted/Biosensing-Setups/ECGSetup/

Is one channel missing?