Methods for analyzing infant heart rate variability: A preliminary study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric cardiology
• Autonomic nervous system development
• Infant physiological monitoring

Background:

• Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are key indicators of autonomic nervous system development in infants.
• Reliable HRV recordings are essential for accurate assessment, but a standardized protocol is currently lacking.
• Understanding infant autonomic responses requires robust HRV measurement techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability of a common infant HRV analysis procedure using two different data file types.
• To compare heart rate and heart rate variability parameters derived from electrocardiograph (ECG) and R-R interval (RRi) files.
• To identify potential discrepancies and inform the development of a standardized methodology.

Main Methods:

• Continuous 5-10 minute electrocardiograph (ECG) recordings were obtained from 1-month-old infants at rest using a Hexoskin Shirt-Junior.
• Both .wav (ECG) and .csv (RRi) files were extracted, with RRi generated by VivoSense software.
• MATLAB scripts processed files for analysis in Kubios HRV Premium, with statistical comparisons using SPSS.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in the root mean squared successive differences between the RRi and ECG recording types.
• Only heart rate (HR) and low-frequency HRV measures showed significant correlation between the two file types.
• The Hexoskin recording system combined with MATLAB and Kubios analysis facilitates infant HRV assessment.

Conclusions:

• While the Hexoskin system and subsequent analysis tools enable infant HRV analysis, distinct procedural differences yield varying outcomes.
• A standardized methodology for infant heart rate and heart rate variability analysis is necessary to ensure consistent and reliable research findings.
• Further research is needed to establish best practices for infant HRV data acquisition and processing.