Response and Control of Heart Rate Via Posture and Movement

After a few days of immobilization, patients need some form of treatment to stabilize their cardiovascular system. It is known that mobilization has a major influence on the cardiovascular system and, therefore, is an important component in neurorehabilitation. In this study a strategy is presented to control the heart rate using two mechanical stimuli: body inclination angle and stepping frequency. First, we could show that the heart rate of healthy subjects, as well as minimally conscious patients, shows a clear and repeatable response to body tilting and stepping. Furthermore, first experiments demonstrated the feasibility to control the heart rate of healthy subjects. Future experiments are required to optimize the control strategy with healthy subjects and to present the feasibility of the controller for use with patients. The long term goal will be to control heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as respiration frequency, in order to stabilize the patients’ cardiovascular system and improve their health state with a reduced amount of pharmaceutical medication.