Title A novel apparatus for non-contact measurement of heart rate variability: a system to prevent secondary exposure of medical personnel to toxic materials under biochemical hazard conditions, in monitoring sepsis or in predicting multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
Author Matsui, T; Arai, I; Gotoh, S; Hattori, H; Takase, B; Kikuchi, M; Ishihara, M
Journal Biomed Pharmacother Publication Year/Month 2005-Oct
PMID 16275492 PMCID PMC7134716
Affiliation 1.Division of Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa 359-8513, Japan.

BACKGROUND: The impaired balance of the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio obtained from spectral components of RR intervals can be a diagnostic test for sepsis. In addition, it is known that a reduction of heart rate variability (HRV) is useful in identifying septic patients at risk of the development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). We have reported a non-contact method using a microwave radar to monitor the heart and respiratory rates of a healthy person placed inside an isolator or of experimental animals exposed to toxic materials. APPARATUS DESIGN AND TESTING: With the purpose of preventing secondary exposure of medical personnel to toxic materials under biochemical hazard conditions, we designed a novel apparatus for non-contact measurement of HRV using a 1215 MHz microwave radar, a high-pass filter, and a personal computer. The microwave radar monitors only the small reflected waves from the subject\'s chest wall, which are modulated by the cardiac and respiratory motion. The high-pass filter enhances the cardiac signal and attenuates the respiratory signal. In a human trial, RR intervals derived from the non-contact apparatus significantly correlated with those derived from ECG (r=0.98, P<0.0001). The non-contact apparatus showed a similar power spectrum of RR intervals to that of ECG. CONCLUSIONS: Our non-contact HRV measurement apparatus appears promising for future pre-hospital monitoring of septic patients or for predicting MODS patients, inside isolators or in the field for mass casualties under biochemical hazard circumstances.

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