Envelope filter sequence to delete blinks and overshoots

BACKGROUND: Eye movements have been used in control interfaces and as indicators of somnolence, workload and concentration. Different techniques can be used to detect them: we focus on the electrooculogram (EOG) in which two kinds of interference occur: blinks and overshoots. While they both draw bell-shaped waveforms, blinks are caused by the eyelid, whereas overshoots occur due to target localization error and are placed on saccade. They need to be extracted from the EOG to increase processing effectiveness. METHODS: This paper describes off- and online processing implementations based on lower envelope for removing bell-shaped noise; they are compared with a 300-ms-median filter. Techniques were analyzed using two kinds of EOG data: those modeled from our own design, and real signals. Using a model signal allowed to compare filtered outputs with ideal data, so that it was possible to quantify processing precision to remove noise caused by blinks, overshoots, and general interferences. We analyzed the ability to delete blinks and overshoots, and waveform preservation. RESULTS: Our technique had a high capacity for reducing interference amplitudes (>97%), even exceeding median filter (MF) results. However, the MF obtained better waveform preservation, with a smaller dependence on fixation width. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed technique is better at deleting blinks and overshoots than the MF in model and real EOG signals.