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Introduction

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Poincaré Plot Methods for Heart Rate Variability Analysis

Abstract

The study of heart rate variability (HRV) focuses on the analysis of beat-to-beat fluctuations in heart rate and the diagnostic ability that these fluctuations provide. The series of time intervals between heartbeats, referred to as RR intervals, are measured over a period of anywhere from 10 min to 24 h and form the most commonly studied HRV time series (Rompelman et al., Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 15(3):233–239, 1977). The great majority of variability witnessed in heart rate records is due to the autonomic nervous system modulating heart rate (Jalife and Michaels, Vagal Control of the Heart: Experimental Basis and Clinical Implications, ed. by Levy and Schwartz, Futura, New York, 1994, pp. 173–205). Accordingly, attention has focused on HRV as a method of quantifying cardiac autonomic function. Vagal tone is the dominant influence under resting conditions and the majority of heart rate fluctuations are a result of vagal modulation (Chess et al., Am. J. Physiol. 228:775–780, 1975). This provides clinicians with a reliable, non-invasive technique to monitor parasympathetic nervous activity. This, and other information that can be derived from HRV records, is of great importance to clinicians in the diagnosis, treatment and study of many illnesses related to the cardiovascular and autonomic systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Ahsan Habib Khandoker

  2. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Ahsan Habib Khandoker

  3. Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Chandan Karmakar, Michael Brennan & Marimuthu Palaniswami

  4. Department of Medical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Jena, Jena, Germany

    Andreas Voss

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  1. Ahsan Habib Khandoker
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  2. Chandan Karmakar
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  5. Marimuthu Palaniswami
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Khandoker, A.H., Karmakar, C., Brennan, M., Voss, A., Palaniswami, M. (2013). Introduction. In: Poincaré Plot Methods for Heart Rate Variability Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7375-6_1

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