Cardiotachometer with linear beat-to-beat frequency response

Cardiotachometer detects and displays the human heart rate during physiological studies. It provides linear response to the heart rate, records heart rate during rest and under heavy stress, provides a beat-to-beat indication of changes in heart rate, and is relatively free of interfering signals from activities other than the heart rate

Sinusoidal fetal heart rate pattern

We describe 2 cases of term anemic fetuses with different sinusoidal pattern morphology, and possible mechanisms.nbspCasesmdashThe first patient noted sudden cessation of fetal movement on the day of presentation. She had a sinusoidal FHR pattern. The newborn had a hemoglobin of 3.7 g/dl, and umbilical artery pH was 7.10 and BE -7 mEq/l. The second patient noted decreased fetal movement for several days. She had a FHR pattern with absent FHR variability, and intermittent sinusoidal elements, with late decelerations. The newbornrsquos hemoglobin was 1.5 g/dl, umbilical artery pH was 7.07 and BE -10.2 mEq/l. Both cases had positive Kleihauer-Betke tests

Heart-rate pulse-shift detector

Detector circuit accurately separates and counts phase-shift pulses over wide range of basic pulse-rate frequency, and also provides reasonable representation of full repetitive EKG waveform. Single telemeter implanted in small animal monitors not only body temperature but also animal movement and heart rate

Variability in heart rate recovery measurements over 1 year in healthy, middle-aged adults.

This study assessed the longer-term (12-month) variability in post-exercise heart rate recovery following a submaximal exercise test. Longitudinal data was analysed for 97 healthy middle-aged adults (74 male, 23 female) from 2 occasions, 12 months apart. Participants were retrospectively selected if they had stable physical activity habits, submaximal treadmill fitness and anthropometric measurements between the 2 assessment visits. A submaximal Bruce treadmill test was performed to at least 85% age-predicted maximum heart rate. Absolute heart rate and Δ heart rate recovery (change from peak exercise heart rate) were recorded for 1 and 2 min post-exercise in an immediate supine position. Heart rate recovery at both time-points was shown to be reliable with intra-class correlation coefficient values ≥ 0.714. Absolute heart rate 1-min post-exercise showed the strongest agreement between repeat tests (r = 0.867, P < 0.001). Lower coefficient of variation (≤ 10.2%) and narrower limits of agreement were found for actual heart rate values rather than Δ heart rate recovery, and for 1-min rather than 2-min post-exercise recovery time points. Log-transformed values generated better variability with acceptable coefficient of variation for all measures (2.2-10%). Overall, 1 min post-exercise heart rate recovery data had least variability over the 12-month period in apparently healthy middle-aged adults

Heart rate and blood pressure monitoring in heart failure.

It has been long known that incessant tachycardia and severe hypertension can cause heart failure (HF). In recent years, it has also been recognized that more modest elevations in either heart rate (HR) or blood pressure (BP), if sustained, can be a risk factor both for the development of HF and for mortality in patients with established HF. Heart rate and BP are thus both modifiable risk factors in the setting of HF. What is less clear is the question whether routine systematic monitoring of these simple physiological parameters to a target value can offer clinical benefits. Measuring these parameters clinically during patient review is recommended in HF management in most HF guidelines, both in the acute and chronic phases of the disease. More sophisticated systems now allow long-term automatic or remote monitoring of HR and BP and whether this more detailed patient information can improve clinical outcomes will require prospective RCTs to evaluate. In addition, analysis of patterns of both HR and BP variability can give insights into autonomic function, which is also frequently abnormal in HF. This window into autonomic dysfunction in our HF patients can also provide further independent prognostic information and may in itself be target for future interventional therapies. This article, developed during a consensus meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC concerning the role of physiological monitoring in the complex multi-morbid HF patient, highlights the importance of repeated assessment of HR and BP in HF, and reviews gaps in our knowledge and potential future directions

Fitbit Charge HR Wireless Heart Rate Monitor: Validation Study Conducted Under Free-Living Conditions

Background: Many modern smart watches and activity trackers feature an optical sensor that estimates the wearer’s heart rate. Recent studies have evaluated the performance of these consumer devices in the laboratory. Objective: The objective of our study was to examine the accuracy and sensitivity of a common wrist-worn tracker device in measuring heart rates and detecting 1-min bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) under free-living conditions. Methods: Ten healthy volunteers were recruited from a large university in Singapore to participate in a limited field test, followed by a month of continuous data collection. During the field test, each participant would wear one Fitbit Charge HR activity tracker and one Polar H6 heart rate monitor. Fitbit measures were accessed at 1-min intervals, while Polar readings were available for 10-s intervals. We derived intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for individual participants comparing heart rate estimates. We applied Centers for Disease Control and Prevention heart rate zone cut-offs to ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of Fitbit in identifying 1-min epochs falling into MVPA heart rate zone. Results: We collected paired heart rate data for 2509 1-min epochs in 10 individuals under free-living conditions of 3 to 6 hours. The overall ICC comparing 1-min Fitbit measures with average 10-s Polar H6 measures for the same epoch was .83 (95% CI .63-.91). On average, the Fitbit tracker underestimated heart rate measures by −5.96 bpm (standard error, SE=0.18). At the low intensity heart rate zone, the underestimate was smaller at −4.22 bpm (SE=0.15). This underestimate grew to −16.2 bpm (SE=0.74) in the MVPA heart rate zone. Fitbit devices detected 52.9% (192/363) of MVPA heart rate zone epochs correctly. Positive and negative predictive values were 86.1% (192/223) and 92.52% (2115/2286), respectively. During subsequent 1 month of continuous data collection (270 person-days), only 3.9% of 1-min epochs could be categorized as MVPA according to heart rate zones. This measure was affected by decreasing wear time and adherence over the period of follow-up. Conclusions: Under free-living conditions, Fitbit trackers are affected by significant systematic errors. Improvements in tracker accuracy and sensitivity when measuring MVPA are required before they can be considered for use in the context of exercise prescription to promote better health

心拍数から見た中長距離走の運動強度

The purpose of this study was to clarify the exercise intensity of middle and long distance runners from the ventilatory threshold (VT) and respiratory compensation for metabolic acidosis (RCMA) perspectives. A total of four healthy men participated as subjects in this study to measure heart rate (HR) during various events (the Hiroshima International Peace Marathon, triathlon, bike training, run training and ekiden). Furthermore, the VT, RCMA and oxygen uptake (V02)-HR, HR-VO2 relationship for each subject were measured, and then the HR during the point of VT and RCMA for VO2-HR relationship was calculated. Moreover, the mean HR was substituted during each exercise for HR-V02 relationship, and then the percentage of the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was calculated. The following results were obtained: 1. It can be considered that the exercise intensity of θF, OBLA, RCMA are of similar extent. 2. The percentage point of HR exceeding the VT was measured at almost 100 percent during the Peace Marathon 1999 (10km), triathlon bike stage (33 km), triathlon running stage (12 km) and ekiden (10.6 km). Also, the percentage point of HR exceeding the RCMA was measured at an excess of 90 percent during the Peace Marathon 1999, triathlon running stage and ekiden. Also, the percentage point of HR exceeding the RCMA was measured at an excess of 40 percent during the bike stage of the triathlon. 3. The results of the percentage of the VO2max of the mean HR during each race, show the following increase in exercise intensity percentage: triathlon bike stage (86.3%), triathlon running stage (92.6%), ekiden (95.0%), Peace Marathon 1999 (102.4%). Also，there were more higher level of the oxygen uptake than past reports. 4. The exercise intensity of the triathlon bike stage was lower than the RCMA, also triathlon running stage and ekiden were considerably higher than the RCMA. 5. The mean HR during the bike and running training of the triathlon race were significantly lower than the mean HR for the triathlon race itself during the bike stage and running stage (p<0.01). Therefore, it was suggested that improvement of exercise intensity during training is effective in improving the performance of the athletes participating in distance events. The training intensity, training duration, training frequency differ with season. However, it is conceivable that the training for the exercise intensity of e F, O BLA, R CMA level are of importance during the athlete's intensive practicing period

Multifractality and scale invariance in human heartbeat dynamics

Human heart rate is known to display complex fluctuations. Evidence of multifractality in heart rate fluctuations in healthy state has been reported [Ivanov et al., Nature {\bf 399}, 461 (1999)]. This multifractal character could be manifested as a dependence on scale or beat number of the probability density functions (PDFs) of the heart rate increments. On the other hand, scale invariance has been recently reported in a detrended analysis of healthy heart rate increments [Kiyono et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 93}, 178103 (2004)]. In this paper, we resolve this paradox by clarifying that the scale invariance reported is actually exhibited by the PDFs of the sum of detrended healthy heartbeat intervals taken over different number of beats, and demonstrating that the PDFs of detrended healthy heart rate increments are scale dependent. Our work also establishes that this scale invariance is a general feature of human heartbeat dynamics, which is shared by heart rate fluctuations in both healthy and pathological states