A monitoring device for continuous analysis of heart rate variability

A computer based system for bedside investigation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) using spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is described. Primary information, electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, is obtained from a classical cardiotachymeter which is the interface between the patient and the device. A special software has been designed to continuously acquire the ECG samples, build the heart rate trend and compute spectral analysis. A lot of tools are available to record up to 24 hours long time series data of the RR intervals and to quantify the ANS activity. The most originality of this work is the design of a real time algorithm which allows to continuously display a three dimensional view of the power spectrum of the HRV. This function is useful to follow the evolution of the ANS activity. Therefore, in many clinical units, this system accurately contributes to the understanding of various pathophysiological mechanisms encountered in multiple situations such as neurohumeral changes associated to ventricular arrhythmia, sudden infant death syndrome or drug effects study during potentially hazardous medical procedures