Time-Varying Spiky Wave-Shape Functions for Non-Stationary Signal Decomposition

Abstract

We propose a novel framework for decomposing nonstationary spiky signals. Unlike classical adaptive non-harmonic models, which represent signals as amplitude- and frequency-modulated (AM--FM) oscillations, the proposed model is designed for signals whose dominant structures are highly localized, impulsive, or spike-like, and contains physiological variability, which is challenging to be modeled as AM--FM representations. Representative examples include electrocardiogram (ECG) complexes, epileptic electroencephalogram (EEG) transients, and other pulse-like physiological signals. We first introduce a fixed-waveform model for repetitive spiky structures and then extend it to accommodate cycle-to-cycle waveform variability. The resulting algorithm, termed \emph{Spiky Shape-adaptive Mode Decomposition} (SSAMD), estimates waveforms in the Fourier coefficient domain. Fourier coefficients are first estimated via local regression and then regularized by exploiting their low-dimensional manifold structure. Specifically, we combine a PCA-based parametrization with an entropy regularization acting on the singular-value spectrum of the coefficient matrix, promoting morphological consistency while preserving structured waveform variability. The proposed framework is flexible and overcomes the limitations of existing models. We validate the method on synthetic and real biomedical signals, including ECG with atrial fibrillation, epileptic EEG, and trans-abdominal maternal ECG. Experimental results demonstrate effective denoising, waveform tracking, decomposition, and segmentation, while preserving physiologically meaningful morphological variations.