Scale Invariant Properties in Heart Rate Signals

Abstract

The rate of heart beat is controlled by autonomic nervous system: accelerated by the sympathetic system and slowed by the parasympathetic system. Scaling properties in heart rate are usually related to the intrinsic dynamics of this physiological regulatory system. The two packages calculating local exponent spectra: Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima and Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (accessible from Physionet home page http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/101/23/e215) are tested, and then used to investigate the spectrum of singularity exponents in series of heart rates obtained from patients suffering from reduced left ventricle systolic function. It occurs that this state of a heart could be connected to some perturbation in the regulatory system, because the heart rate appears to be less controlled than in a healthy human heart. The multifractality in the heart rate signal is weakened: the spectrum is narrower and moved to higher values what indicate the higher activity of the sympatethic nervous system.