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Biomedical subjects

R D Berger

Publications and source records attributed to R D Berger.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Beat to beat variability in cardiovascular variables: noise or music?

Cardiovascular variables such as heart rate, arterial blood pressure, stroke volume and the shape of electrocardiographic complexes all fluctuate on a beat to beat basis. These fluctuations have traditionally been ignored or, at best, treated as noise to be averaged out. The variability in cardiovascular signals reflects the homeodynamic interplay between perturbations to cardiovascular function and the dynamic response of the cardiovascular regulatory systems. Modern signal processing techniques provide a means of analyzing beat to beat fluctuations in cardiovascular signals, so as to permit a quantitative, noninvasive or minimally invasive method of assessing closed loop hemodynamic regulation and cardiac electrical stability. This method promises to provide a new approach to the clinical diagnosis and management of alterations in cardiovascular regulation and stability.

Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed1989

Assessment of autonomic response by broad-band respiration.

We present a technique for introducing broad-band respiratory perturbations so that the response characteristics of the autonomic nervous system can be determined noninvasively over a wide range of physiologically relevant frequencies. A subject's respiratory bandwidth was broadened by breathing on cue to a sequence of audible tones spaced by Poisson intervals. The transfer function between the respiratory input and the resulting instantaneous heart rate was then computed using spectral analysis techniques. Results using this method are comparable to those found using traditional techniques, but are obtained with an economy of data collection.

Autonomic Nervous System↗
PubMed1989

Transfer function analysis of autonomic regulation. I. Canine atrial rate response.

We present a useful technique for analyzing the various functional components that comprise the cardiovascular control network. Our approach entails the imposition of a signal with broad frequency content as an input excitation and the computation of a system transfer function using spectral estimation techniques. In this paper, we outline the analytical methods involved and demonstrate the utility of our approach in studying the dynamic behavior of the canine cardiac pacemaker. In particular, we applied frequency-modulated pulse trains to either the right vagus or the cardiac sympathetic nerve and computed transfer functions between nerve stimulation rate and the resulting atrial rate. We found that the sinoatrial node (and associated automatic tissue) responds as a low-pass filter to fluctuations in either sympathetic or parasympathetic tone. For sympathetic fluctuations, however, the filter has a much lower corner frequency than for vagal fluctuations and is coupled with a roughly 1.7-s pure delay. We further found that the filter characteristics, including the location of the corner frequency and rate of roll-off, depend significantly on the mean level of sympathetic or vagal tone imposed.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1989

Transfer function analysis of autonomic regulation. II. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

An efficient new technique was developed to investigate heart rate control at all physiologically relevant frequencies by using respiratory activity as a frequency probe of the autonomic nervous response. The transfer function from respiratory activity to heart rate was determined during 6-min periods in which the respiratory rate was voluntarily controlled in a predetermined but erratic fashion. Changes in posture were used to manipulate autonomic balance. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was determined to be a frequency-dependent phenomenon with the magnitude and phase characteristics of a low-pass filter. In agreement with previous work, at typical respiratory frequencies (greater than 0.15 Hz) increases in heart rate occurred simultaneously with the onset of inspiratory activity; however, at frequencies less than 0.15 Hz the phase relationship was quite different, such that increases in heart rate preceded inspiration. Between 0.15 and 0.45 Hz, the transfer magnitude was consistently lower while the subjects were in the upright posture than when in the supine posture, but below 0.15 Hz, it was equal in both postures. A model for respiratory modulation of heart rate, based on the atrial rate response characteristics determined in the companion paper [Am. J. Physiol. 256 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 25): H142-H152, 1989], suggests that the magnitude and phase characteristics of the subjects in the supine and upright postures differ because of relatively increased sympathetic outflow in the upright posture. A precise and efficient characterization of respiratory sinus arrhythmia can yield considerable insight into the autonomic regulation of the heart.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Assessment of autonomic regulation in chronic congestive heart failure by heart rate spectral analysis.

Neurohumoral modulation of cardiovascular function is an important component of the hemodynamic alterations in patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). Analysis of heart rate (HR) variability is a noninvasive means of investigating the autonomic control of the heart. The variability of HR and respiratory signals, both derived from ambulatory electrocardiographic recordings, were analyzed with power spectral analysis to evaluate autonomic control in 25 patients with chronic stable CHF (class III or IV) and 21 normal control subjects. In the patients with CHF, HR spectral power was markedly reduced (p less than 0.0001) at all frequencies examined (0.01 to 1.0 Hz, period 1 to 100 seconds) and virtually absent at frequencies greater than 0.04 Hz. Heart rate fluctuations at very low frequencies (0.01 to 0.04 Hz) less effectively differentiated CHF patients from control subjects, due to discrete (about 65 seconds, 0.015 Hz) oscillation in HR, which was associated with a similar pattern in respiratory activity in many of the patients with CHF. These findings demonstrate a marked derangement of HR modulation in patients with severe CHF. The frequency characteristics of HR fluctuations in these patients are consistent with abnormal baroreflex responsiveness to physiologic stimuli, and suggest that there is diminished vagal, but relatively preserved sympathetic, modulation of HR.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Analysis of long term heart rate variability: methods, 1/f scaling and implications.

The use of spectral techniques to quantify short term heart rate fluctuations on the order of seconds to minutes has helped define the autonomic contributions to beat-to-beat control of heart rate. We used similar techniques to quantify the entire spectrum (0.00003-1.0 Hz) of heart rate variability during 24 hour ambulatory ECG monitoring. The ECG from standard Holter monitor recordings from normal subjects was sampled with the use of a phase locked loop, and a heart rate time series was constructed at 3 Hz. Frequency analysis of the heart rate signal was performed after a nonlinear filtering algorithm was used to eliminate artifacts. A power spectrum of the entire 24 hour record revealed power that was inversely proportional to frequency, 1/f, over 4 decades from 0.00003 to 0.1 Hz (period approximately 10 hours to 10 seconds). Displaying consecutive spectra calculated at 5 minute intervals revealed marked variability in the peaks at all frequencies throughout the 24 hours, probably accounting for the lack of distinct peaks in the spectra of the entire records.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Transfer function analysis of the autonomic response to respiratory activity during random interval breathing.

We report a new method for the noninvasive characterization of the frequency response of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in mediating fluctuations in heart rate (HR). The approach entails computation of the transfer function magnitude and phase between instantaneous lung volume and HR. Broad band fluctuations in lung volume were initiated when subjects breathed on cue to a sequence of beeps spaced randomly in time. We studied 10 subjects in both supine and standing positions. The transfer function, averaged among all the subjects, showed systematic differences between the two postures, reflecting the differing frequency responses of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the ANS.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Human heart rate variability relation is unchanged during motion sickness.

In a study of 18 human subjects, we applied a new technique, estimation of the transfer function between instantaneous lung volume (ILV) and instantaneous heart rate (HR), to assess autonomic activity during motion sickness. Two control recordings of ILV and electrocardiogram (ECG) were made prior to the development of motion sickness. During the first, subjects were seated motionless, and during the second they were seated rotating sinusoidally about an earth vertical axis. Subjects then wore prism goggles that reverse the left-right visual field and performed manual tasks until they developed moderate motion sickness. Finally, ILV and ECG were recorded while subjects maintained a relatively constant level of sickness by intermittent eye closure during rotation with the goggles. Based on analyses of ILV to HR transfer functions from the three conditions, we were unable to demonstrate a change in autonomic control of heart rate due to rotation alone or due to motion sickness. These findings do not support the notion that moderate motion sickness is manifested as a generalized autonomic response.

Adolescent↗