(1) Dept. of ECE, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 599489, Singapore;(2) Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Abstract:
Background
Analysis of heart rate variation (HRV) has become a popular noninvasive tool for assessing the activities of the autonomic
nervous system (ANS). HRV analysis is based on the concept that fast fluctuations may specifically reflect changes of sympathetic
and vagal activity. It shows that the structure generating the signal is not simply linear, but also involves nonlinear contributions.
These signals are essentially non-stationary; may contain indicators of current disease, or even warnings about impending
diseases. The indicators may be present at all times or may occur at random in the time scale. However, to study and pinpoint
abnormalities in voluminous data collected over several hours is strenuous and time consuming.