Methods for enhancements of HRV and late potentials measurements

摘要

An ECG recorder and playback unit which includes software-implemented digital signal processing filters which include a method for generating a heart rate variability (HRV) and late potential measurements. The HRV method in- dudes playing back the ECG data on the playback unit and a defining a reference point, usually corresponding to the R-wave peak, on each output ECG signal. An initial period is determined between the reference points. The period is then adjusted so as to align the reference points of the output ECG signals. The amount by which the ECG signals are adjusted is determined by computing a phase difference at a predetermined reference frequency and dividing the phase difference by the reference frequency to produce a period difference. The period is then adjusted by the period difference by adding the period difference to the measured period. The adjusted period is then used to compute the HRV measurement using statistical techniques. In an alternative embodiment of the HRV measurement, an interpolation technique is used to increase the accuracy of the reference point definition and thereby increase the accuracy of the period determination. A phase-ramp technique is employed to improve the frequency resolution of the ECG signal to improve the detection of late potentials.