Synthetic photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal generation using a genetic programming-based generative model

Nowadays, photoplethysmograph (PPG) technology is being used more often in smart devices and mobile phones due to advancements in information and communication technology in the health field, particularly in monitoring cardiac activities. Developing generative models to generate synthetic PPG signals requires overcoming challenges like data diversity and limited data available for training deep learning models. This paper proposes a generative model by adopting a genetic programming (GP) approach to generate increasingly diversified and accurate data using an initial PPG signal sample. Unlike conventional regression, the GP approach automatically determines the structure and combinations of a mathematical model. Given that mean square error (MSE) of 0.0001, root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.01, and correlation coefficient of 0.999, the proposed approach outperformed other approaches and proved effective in terms of efficiency and applicability in resource-constrained environments. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.