Computer analysis of physiologic signals in a cardiovascular research laboratory

Abstract

A comprehensive computer program which provides immediate computation and feedback has been developed for data acquisition and analysis of signals in a cardiovascular animal laboratory. The system is based on a microcomputer equipped with analog-to-digital converter and supports function modules which digitize, filter, and differentiate up to 8 simultaneously sampled cardiovascular signals. The program detects, analyses, and plots incoming and averaged beats. Beat-by-beat signal averaging for each channel is performed and cardiac cycles are partitioned automatically. For each cardiac and average cycle the amplitude at 6 physiologic fiducial markers are measured and derived calculations are made. Channel vs channel plots and loop area measurements are also computed and displayed. The computer algorithms have been shown to give accurate, precise, and reproducible results when tested on canine cardiovascular data. Also, it has been demonstrated that signal averaging is an appropriate analysis technique for cardiovascular signals.