Don't Add or Miss a Beat: A Guide to Cleaner Heart Rate Variability Recordings

Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the beat-to-beat variation in the time intervals between heart contractions. This phenomenon reflects physiological processes that are trained in many biofeedback applications. HRV is routinely monitored using an electrocardiograph (ECG) or photoplethysmograph (PPG), supplemented by a respirometer. This article explains the importance of inspecting raw signals, describes the effects of prescription medications and social drugs, identifies common sources of signal contamination, and recommends practical precautions to increase recording fidelity.

[1]  D. Geselowitz,et al.  Characteristics of the Frequency Spectrum in the Normal Electrocardiogram and in Subjects Following Myocardial Infarction , 1960, Circulation research.

[2]  J. Andreassi.  Psychophysiology: Human Behavior and Physiological Response , 1980 .

[3]  A. Malliani,et al.  Heart rate variability. Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use , 1996 .

[4]  G. Breithardt,et al.  Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. , 1996 .

[5]  H. Nagaraja,et al.  Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. , 1997, Psychophysiology.

[6]  G. Vossel,et al.  Finally, After Two Decades , 2001 .

[7]  Erik Peper,et al.  Keep Cell Phones and PDAs Away From EMG Sensors and the Human Body to Prevent Electromagnetic Interference Artifacts and Cancer , 2009 .

[8]  F. Shaffer,et al.  Practical Anatomy and Physiology: The Skeletal Muscle System , 2010 .

[9]  Erik Peper,et al.  Garbage In; Garbage Out—Identify Blood Volume Pulse (BVP) Artifacts Before Analyzing and Interpreting BVP, Blood Volume Pulse Amplitude, and Heart Rate/Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Data , 2010 .

[10]  M. Elgendi.  On the Analysis of Fingertip Photoplethysmogram Signals , 2012, Current cardiology reviews.

[11]  P. Lehrer.  How Does Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Work? Resonance, the Baroreflex, and Other Mechanisms , 2013 .

[12]  J. Vagedes,et al.  How accurate is pulse rate variability as an estimate of heart rate variability? A review on studies comparing photoplethysmographic technology with an electrocardiogram. , 2013, International journal of cardiology.

[13]  Fred Shaffer,et al.  Heart Rate Variability Anatomy and Physiology , 2013 .