A patient monitoring apparatus and method is provided. A plurality of moving average filters each receive a signal sensed from a patient and generates an output signal including a respective cutoff frequency. An extraction processor is coupled to receive the sensed signal and output signals from each moving average filters. The extraction processor determines at least one feature associated with the sensed signal based on at least one of the sensed signal and the output signals from each moving average filter and generates a feature signal including data representative of the determined at least one feature. A classification processor identifies a position of artifacts within the sensed signal based on the feature signal and generates a signal identifying the position of the artifacts.