Method and apparatus for measuring autonomic activity of a patient

A method of measuring activity of the autonomic nervous system of a patient comprising:

• obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• generating a Poincare plot from said R-R intervals;
• calculating a correlation dimension corresponding to said Poincare plot, and
• determining a level of sympathetic activity of said patient on the basis of said correlation dimension as a measure of the autonomic nervous system of said patient.

A method of measuring activity of the autonomic nervous system of a patient comprising:

• obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• generating a Poincare plot from said R-R intervals;
• and
• determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot as a measure of activity of the autonomic nervous system of said patient.

A method of determining a level of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals;
• and
• determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot, and determining a level of heart failure for said patient if said level of parasympathetic activity is below a predetermined level.

A method of determining a level of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals;
• determining a level of autonomic activity from said Poincare plot which corresponds to a level of heart failure;
• determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot, and
• determining a level of heart failure for said patient if said level is below a predetermined level.

A method of quantifying a degree of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals;
• determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot;
• determining the standard deviation of .DELTA.R-R intervals;
• and
• quantifying a degree of heart failure of said patient on the basis of said width and said standard deviation.

An apparatus for measuring activity of the autonomic nervous system of a patient, comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst each patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating a Poincare plot from said R-R intervals;
• and
• means for determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot.

An apparatus for measuring activity of the autonomic nervous system of a patient, comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating a Poincare plot from said R-R intervals;
• and
• means for determining the level of autonomic activity of the patient represented by the plot;
• means for calculating a correlation dimension corresponding to said Poincare plot;
• and
• means for determining a level of sympathetic activity of said patient on the basis of said correlation dimension.

An apparatus for measuring activity of the autonomic nervous system of a patient, comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating a Poincare plot from said R-R intervals;
• and
• means for determining the level of autonomic activity of the patient represented by the plot;
• and
• means for determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot.

An apparatus for determining a level of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals;
• and
• means for determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot, and means for determining a level of heart failure in said patient when said level of parasympathetic activity is below a predetermined level.

An apparatus for determining a level of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals from which a level of autonomic activity corresponding to a level of heart failure can be determined;
• means for determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot, and
• means for determining a level of heart failure in said patient when said level of parasympathetic activity is below a predetermined level.

An apparatus for quantifying a degree of heart failure in a patient comprising:

• means for obtaining ECG signals from said patient whilst said patient is at rest;
• means for measuring the R-R intervals for adjacent PQRS portions of said signals;
• means for generating and displaying a Poincare plot of said R-R intervals from which heart failure can be determined;
• means for determining a level of parasympathetic activity for said patient from the width of said plot about a line perpendicular to the line of identity of said plot;
• means for determining the standard deviation of .DELTA.R-R intervals;
• and
• means for quantifying a degree of heart failure of said patient on the basis of said width and said standard deviation.