ETRI researchers explain the channel connection structure for brainwave signals based on electrode placement configurations. [ETRI]
ETRI researchers explain the channel connection structure for brainwave signals based on electrode placement configurations. [ETRI]

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has developed a core technology that compresses biosignals with high efficiency and without data loss. The technology has been incorporated into a joint international standard for biological and general waveform compression being developed by the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and ISO's Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).

The technology is expected to find broad application in telemedicine, wearable healthcare, AI-based precision medical diagnostics, and industrial sensor and vibration analysis.

The international standard for biological and general waveform compression, designated H.BWC, covers technology for efficiently compressing biosignals — including electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG) and electromyography (EMG) — as well as general waveform data, while preserving the original signal intact.

Medical imaging has long had a widely used international standard in DICOM, but no international standard for biosignal compression existed in effect.

ETRI contributed two core compression technologies to the new standard: predictive coding and electrode-placement-based channel coding.

The predictive coding technique forecasts the next signal value based on preceding data, then encodes only the difference between the predicted and actual values. By reducing the volume of information that must be compressed in the first place, the approach significantly improves compression efficiency.

EEG examinations use multiple electrodes simultaneously to record biosignals across many channels. This process creates inefficiency, as identical information is redundantly recorded across different channels. ETRI's researchers addressed this by developing an electrode-placement-based channel coding technique that identifies such redundancy using only the connectivity information between electrodes, prevents unnecessary duplicate data from being stored, and enables efficient signal reconstruction.

The technology delivers superior compression efficiency compared with conventional methods while adding virtually no extra computational burden.

It is particularly expected to see wide use across converged medical industries where high-quality biosignal processing is essential — including telemedicine, wearable healthcare and AI-based precision diagnostics.

"This achievement goes beyond simply proposing a technology — it means our technology has been officially recognized as a core component of an international standard," said Kang Jeong-won, head of ETRI's Media Coding Research Laboratory. "We will continue to advance compression technologies in the biosignal and immersive media fields and lead international standardization efforts."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com