Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 2000, Vol.3, No.1, pp.93--98

NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
An Interdisciplinary Journal

2000, Volume 3, Number 1, pp.93--98

Fluctuation Index as a Measure of Heartbeat Irregularity.
Rudolph C. Hwa

A method is proposed to analyze the heartbeat waveform that can yield a reliable characterization of the structure of the pulses. The measure suggested is index that is related to another measure found effective in describing chaotic behaviors in a wide variety of physical systems. When applied to the ECG data that include ventricular fibrillation, the index is shown to change drastically within a few pulses. Wavelet analysis is used to exhibit different scaling behaviors in different phases. Sensitivity to the pulse shape makes this method an effective tool to diagnose heartbeat irregularities.
Key words: wavelet analysis, heartbeat waveform.

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