HRV Assessment Using Finger-tip Photoplethysmography (PulseRate) as Compared to ECG on Healthy Subjects During Different Postures and Fixed Breathing Pattern

Abstract

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a well-known method to assess the human Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) functions. Currently, in the health care information system, HRV properties are very useful to provide medical and other vital signs of the patients. The HRV assessment was derived using the ECG R-R beat interval series, however, using the ECG probes with the electrode’s gel is not convenient for certain people such as who has an allergic symptom and or probes localization in front of the body part that needs certain knowledge how to put it on the correct location. Photoplethysmography (PPG) was considered to be an alternative way to assess HRV using the Peak-to-Peak interval series (PPI). Since previous studies already reported the availability to use PPG to assess HRV instead ECG, this study investigated how the HRV properties using those two methods during different postures with a fixed breathing pattern. Ten subjects participated in this study and we observed the R-R and the Peak-Peak beat interval time series from ECG and PPG respectively during sitting-supine, and standing-supine postures with 3 seconds breathing pattern. The results showed that using PPG to assess HRV still can be used with caution, especially during supine posture that had a deviation (SD) difference between ECG and PPG from the inter-subject analysis (p < 0.05). We concluded that the use of PPG still needs to be carefully considered to assess HRV properties, especially for wearable device and health care information system.