GUI based heart rate variability analysis and an application

The HRV signal parameters can be useful in diagnosis of various diseases. Already there are numerous HRV studies reported in literature regarding the use of HRV parameters for diagnostic purposes. In this project, a MATLAB based Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed for the analysis of instantaneous beat (RR) intervals. The GUI is suitable for the analysis of three different HRV parameter groups, namely, time domain parameters, frequency domain parameters and non-linear parameters including Poincaré methods. The GUI has been tested using on-line data available in the web (Physionet-PCB), consisting of “normal” ECG recordings made on 29 selected patients, in four different age groups. Numerical as well as graphical results of these HRV studies are presented here. Cross-correlation computations of these HRV parameters for every patient are performed and their results are also given. A hypothesis stating that “the dynamics of the healthy physiological control system produce an apparently irregular and highly complex type of variability, whereas aging is often associated with more regularity and less complexity” is not justified according to correlation analysis results of our study.