Spectral analysis of AC and DC components of the pulse photoplethysmograph at rest and during induction of anaesthesia

We examined spectral components of beat to beat variability in AC and DC signals of the reflectance photoplethysmograph at finger and earlobe sites in 20 resting volunteers and 20 patients during propofol, alfentanil, isoflurane, nitrous oxide anaesthesia.. We observed that at rest, the majority of spectral power at both sites and in both signals was in the low ‘thermoregulatory’ frequency band (0.01–0.08 Hz). These fluctuations were greater in the finger than in the earlobe and in the AC signal compared to the DC. With anaesthesia, low as well as mid (0.08–0.15 Hz) frequency variability decreased at both sites and in both signals whereas high frequency ‘ventilatory’ power (0.15–0.45 Hz) was maintained. During anaesthesia we found no significant differences between the spectral components of the AC or DC signals or between the finger and the earlobe sites. At all frequencies, the fluctuations in the AC and DC signals were out of phase with each other.