RR interval variability analysis

The author has searched for a method which would yield a more continuous view of the possible changes in autonomic function throughout the day. Tape recordings of ECG´s from normal subjects and diabetic patients with known autonomic dysfunction of varying degrees have been processed to provide many chart recordings of long sequences of analogue RR interval vs. time. Attempts to find a quantitative measure which would best reflect the degree of automatic dysfunction culminated in the realisation that the best discriminator was the rate of occurrence of `larger jumps in RR interval from one beat to the next´. The RR interval analysis system designed using these findings is described