Wavelet decomposition analysis of heart rate variability in aerobic athletes

Heart rate variability (HRV) can be quantified, among others, in the frequency domain using digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. The wavelet transform is an alternative tool for the analysis of non-stationary signals. The implementation of perfect reconstruction digital filter banks leads to multi resolution wavelet analysis. Software was developed in LabVIEW. In this study, the average power was compared at each decomposition level of a tachogram, containing the consecutive RR-intervals of two groups of subjects: aerobic athletes and a control group. Compared to the controls, the aerobic athletes showed an increased power in all frequency bands. These results are in accordance with values obtained by spectral analysis using the Fourier transform, suggesting that wavelet analysis could be an appropriate tool to evaluate oscillating components in HRV, but in addition to classic methods, it also gives a time resolution.