Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Kinesiology and Health Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR45926

Thesis (M. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-215). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-91).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-284).

Thesis (Ph.D)--Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Haj-Ali, Rami; Committee Member: White, Donald; Committee Member: Will, Kenneth; Committee Member: Yavari, Arash; Committee Member: Yoganathan, Ajit. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: oxygen consumption; PET; blood flow. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61).

The objective of this thesis is to examine the possibility to determine the mechanical heart rate using intracardiac impedance in the time domain. Deducing the mechanical heartrate from the impedance could help improve the performance of implanted devices that today depend on the measurement of the heart’s electrical activity. Cardiogenic – also known as intracardiac – impedance is based on the difference in conductivity between heart muscle tissue and blood, making the impedance vary as the heart is filled and emptied. The data used in this thesis was acquired from three previous studies performed by St Jude Medical, two clinical and one preclinical. Two impedance measurement configurations were chosen from these studies, one bipolar and one quadropolar. To deduce the heart rate from the intracardiac impedance six algorithms were evaluated. Three using continuous peak detection and three evaluating small frames of the impedance signal.The peak detection algorithms were peak detection on the impedance signal itself, on its derivative  and on its integral. The three others were an Auto Correlation Function (ACF), an Average Magnutide Difference Function (AMDF) and an Average Wave Comparison Function (AWCF). In order to assess the heart rates deduced from the intracardiac impedance by the algorithms, these rates were compared to both the IEGM or the ECG (depending on which study was at hand) and the blood pressure. Several issues affected the performance of the algorithms. Impedance morphology can vary between patients. Some display so called “double peaks”, making it hard to decide whether a patient has for example a pulse of 80 bpm or of 160 bpm. The impedance morphology was also affected by amplitude modulation with the respiration frequency which in some patients cause difficulties to analyze the impedance signal. The results show that the two impedance measurement configurations perform equally well and that the ACF method was the overall best performing algorithm. They also show that individual patient impedance morphology has a large influence on the results and for future studies it should therefore be interesting to calibrate the algorithms for each patient, as this should improve performance.

Heart rate monitoring (HRM) is an essential tool for monitoring physical activity and as a diagnostic tool in the clinical setting. The ability to monitor heart rate gives users and clinicians vital information about the current condition of the cardiovascular system before, during, and after exercise. However, HRM requires a telemetric chest strap, and comfort, transmission and fit can become problems with the chest strap. New technology using photoplethysmography (PPG) has emerged recently to provide the possibility of HRM without a telemetric chest strap during exercise. The aim of this study was to determine if a new device could detect heart rate over a broad range of skin types (I-V), and whether what wavelength would be most suitable for detecting the signals. A light emitting diode (LED) based PPG system was used to determine heart rate by change in pulsatile blood flow on 22 apparently healthy individuals (11 male and 11 female, 20-59 years old) of varying skin type. Skin type was classified according to a questionnaire in combination with digital photographs with a skin type chart. Each subject was exposed to four different wavelengths (470 nm, 520 nm, 630 nm, and 880 nm) and multiple trials were conducted on each wavelength. Heart rate detection was represented by modulation of the incident light wave and normalized by saturation into a pulsatile waveform represented as modulation average. The 520nm wavelength classified as visible green light provided a significantly greater (p<0.001) ability to detect heart rate. Increasing levels of melanin, or darker skin type (Type V) showed decreased modulation however this trend was not significant (p<0.067). There was no significant interaction between the wavelength of light and the skin type. In conclusion, a PPG based device can detect heart rate across skin types and use of a green light wavelength provides an even greater resolution. / text

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences