Abstract: High resistance non-metallic ECG leads are used to capture biologically generated electrical signals, and include at least one magnetic resonance noise lead to capture a noise reference signal indicative of electromagnetic noise ambient to the leads generated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The noise reference signal is canceled from the captured electrical signal using an adaptive canceling noise filter to obtain a processed electrical signal indicative of the biologically generated electrical signal that causes movement in a patient's moving body part, such as the heart. A characteristic of the processing electrical signal indicative of the biologically generated electrical signal that causes the movement is detected to obtain a trigger signal, which is then transmitted to cause the MRI system to capture at least one imagine including the moving body part.

Abstract: A fetal heart rate monitor monitors weak fetal electrocardiogram signals in the presence of strong interfering material ECG complexes, general random background muscle noise, and 60 Hz power line noise. An electrocardiographic adaptive cancellation process to cancel the maternal ECG component from an abdominal ECG signal recorded from a pregnant subject's abdomen signal is processed using computer software. A set of easily movable maternal abdominal and thoracic ECG electrodes is used. An operator views the ECG data in an oscilloscope and optimally places the set of thoracic electrodes to adaptively cancel the maternal ECG signal from the signal separately derived from a movable abdominal electrocardiographic lead. The invention noninvasively obtains from the abdomen of a pregnant subject the fetal ECG signal, fetal heart rate, and accurate beat-to-beat fetal heart rate variability.