On the cardiorespiratory coordination assessed by the photoplethysmography imaging technique

Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 14645

Abstract

Cardiorespiratory coordination (CRC) probes the interaction between cardiac and respiratory oscillators in which cardiac and respiratory activity are synchronized, with individual heartbeats occurring at approximately the same temporal positions during several breathing cycles. An increase of CRC has previously been related to pathological stressful states. We studied CRC employing coordigrams computed from non-contact photoplethysmography imaging (PPGI) and respiratory data using the optical flow method. In a blocked study design, we applied the cold pressure test (CPT), water at ambient temperature (AWT), and intermittent resting conditions. In controls (no intervention), CRC remained on initial low levels throughout measurements. In the experimental group (AWT and CPT intervention), CRC decreased during AWT and CPT. Following both interventions, CRC increased significantly, with a rebound effect following AWT. In controls, HR increased steadily over time. CPT evoked a significant HR increase which correlated with subjective stress/pain ratings. The CRC increase following AWT correlated significantly with subjective pain (r = .79) and stress (r = .63) ratings. Furthermore, we observed a significant correlation (r = - .80) between mean RMSSD and mean duration of CRC, which further supports an association between autonomic state and CRC level. CRC analysis obtained from cutaneous tissue perfusion data therefore appears to be a sensitive and useful method for the study of CRC and ANS activity. Future studies need to investigate the physiological principles and clinical significance of these findings.

Authors 8

1. Štefan Borik corresponding

   University of Žilina

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Electromagnetic and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Zilina, Zilina, Slovakia. stefan.borik@uniza.sk

   Department of Electromagnetic and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Zilina, Zilina, Slovakia

2. Micha Keller Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Medical School

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. Volker Perlitz
   Affiliation as printed

   Simplana GmbH, Aachen, Germany

4. Simon Lyra Aachen Medical Information Technology (MedIT)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Medical Information Technology (MedIT), Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

5. Holger Pelz
   Affiliation as printed

   Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteopathische Medizin (DGOM), Mannheim, Germany

6. Gero Müller
   Affiliation as printed

   Simplana GmbH, Aachen, Germany

7. Steffen K. Leonhardt Aachen Medical Information Technology (MedIT)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Medical Information Technology (MedIT), Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

8. Vladimír Blažek Aachen Medical Information Technology (MedIT)

   RWTH Aachen University · Czech Technical University in Prague

   Affiliation as printed

   Medical Information Technology (MedIT), Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   The Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC), Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic