Design of a PC-based system for time-domain and spectral analysis of heart rate variability

Investigation of heart rate variability is the subject of considerable interest in physiology, clinical medicine, and clinical pharmacology. The functional assessment of the autonomic nerve system by observation of its main actors, the sympathetic and parasympathetic branch, is emphasizing the importance of autonomic regulation under different physiological circumstances, in several disease states, and under drug therapy. This paper describes a PC-based system designed with LabView that performs time-domain and frequency-domain analyses of heart rate variability as suggested by the guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Examples for heart rate variability are given for different physiological states along with an analysis and evaluation by the system described.