REAL-TIME SPECTRAL-ANALYSIS OF HRV SIGNALS - AN INTERACTIVE AND USER-FRIENDLY PC SYSTEM

We present a real-time system, built around a PC and a low-cost data a cquisition board, for the spectral analysis of the heart rate variabil ity signal. The Windows-like operating environment on which it is base d makes the computer program very user-friendly even for non-specializ ed personnel. The Power Spectral Density is computed through the use o f a hybrid method, in which a classical FFT analysis follows an autore gressive finite-extension of data; the stationarity of the sequence is continuously checked. The use of this algorithm gives a high degree o f robustness of the spectral estimation. Moreover, always in real time , the FFT of every data block is computed and displayed in order to co rroborate the results as well as to allow the user to interactively ch oose a proper AR model order. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.