Electrocardiography Assessment of Sympatico-Vagal Balance during Resting and Pain Using the Texas Instruments ADS1299

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Autonomic Nervous System Research
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Sympatico-vagal balance is crucial for cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmogenic conditions.
• Electrocardiography (ECG) is a noninvasive method for assessing sympatico-vagal balance.
• Novel wearable technologies offer potential for continuous physiological monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a custom wearable device for ECG recording and sympatico-vagal balance assessment.
• To investigate changes in ECG-based biomarkers during tonic pain in healthy individuals.
• To explore the utility of novel biomarkers like periodic repolarization dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Nineteen healthy volunteers underwent ECG recordings using a custom ADS1299-based amplifier.
• ECG-based biomarkers, including heart rate variability, deceleration capacity, and periodic repolarization dynamics, were calculated.
• Measurements were compared between resting state and tonic pain conditions (cold pressor test).

Main Results:

• The custom wearable device yielded technically satisfactory ECG recordings.
• Tonic pain exposure led to a significant increase in periodic repolarization dynamics (p=0.02).
• This increase suggests enhanced sympathetic nervous system activity during pain.

Conclusions:

• Custom-designed wearable devices show promise as a new telemetry technology in healthcare.
• ECG-based biomarkers, particularly periodic repolarization dynamics and deceleration capacity, can detect autonomic system activation.
• These findings support the use of wearable ECG devices and novel biomarkers for pain-evoked physiological studies.