Abstract

There has been significant growth in the area of ubiquitous, pervasive, distributed healthcare technologies due to the increasing burden on the healthcare system and the impending demographic shift towards an aging population. The move from a hospital-centric healthcare system towards in-home health assessment is aimed to alleviate the burden on healthcare professionals, the health care system and caregivers. Advances in signal acquisition, data storage and communication channels provide for the collection of reliable and useful in-home physiological data. Artifacts, arising from environmental, experimental and physiological factors, degrade signal quality and reduce the utility of the affected part of the signal. The degrading effect of the artifacts significantly increases when data collection is moved from the clinic into the home. Advances in signal processing have brought about significant improvement in artifact removal over the last number of years. This paper reviews the most common physiological and location-indicative signals recorded in the home and documents the artifacts which occur most often. A discussion of some of the most common artifact removal techniques is then provided. An evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of each is given with reference to the assisted living environment.