Sensors (Oct 2022)

Validity of Ultra-Short-Term HRV Analysis Using PPG—A Preliminary Study

  • Aline Taoum,
  • Alexis Bisiaux,
  • Florian Tilquin,
  • Yann Le Guillou,
  • Guy Carrault

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s22207995
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 22, no. 20
p. 7995

Abstract

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Continuous measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) in the short and ultra-short-term using wearable devices allows monitoring of physiological status and prevention of diseases. This study aims to evaluate the agreement of HRV features between a commercial device (Bora Band, Biosency) measuring photoplethysmography (PPG) and reference electrocardiography (ECG) and to assess the validity of ultra-short-term HRV as a surrogate for short-term HRV features. PPG and ECG recordings were acquired from 5 healthy subjects over 18 nights in total. HRV features include time-domain, frequency-domain, nonlinear, and visibility graph features and are extracted from 5 min 30 s and 1 min 30 s duration PPG recordings. The extracted features are compared with reference features of 5 min 30 s duration ECG recordings using repeated-measures correlation, Bland–Altman plots with 95% limits of agreements, Cliff’s delta, and an equivalence test. Results showed agreement between PPG recordings and ECG reference recordings for 37 out of 48 HRV features in short-term durations. Sixteen of the forty-eight HRV features were valid and retained very strong correlations, negligible to small bias, with statistical equivalence in the ultra-short recordings (1 min 30 s). The current study concludes that the Bora Band provides valid and reliable measurement of HRV features in short and ultra-short duration recordings.

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