Heart rate variability (HRV) is considered a reliable reflection of the many physiological factors modulating the normal rhythm of the heart. It reflects autonomic nervous system (ANS) function, and as such, it is used in numerous fields of medicine. Written by experts in the field, this book provides a comprehensive overview of HRV. The first section is dedicated to technical themes related to monitoring and the variables recorded. The second section highlights use of HRV in hypothermia. Finally, the third section covers general aspects of HRV application.

This monograph reports on advances in the measurement and study of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dynamics as a source of reliable and effective markers for mood state recognition and assessment of emotional responses. Its primary impact will be in affective computing and the application of emotion-recognition systems. Applicative studies of biosignals such as: electrocardiograms; electrodermal responses; respiration activity; gaze points; and pupil-size variation are covered in detail, and experimental results explain how to characterize the elicited affective levels and mood states pragmatically and accurately using the information thus extracted from the ANS. Nonlinear signal processing techniques play a crucial role in understanding the ANS physiology underlying superficially noticeable changes and provide important quantifiers of cardiovascular control dynamics. These have prognostic value in both healthy subjects and patients with mood disorders. Moreover, Autonomic Nervous System Dynamics for Mood and Emotional-State Recognition proposes a novel probabilistic approach based on the point-process theory in order to model and characterize the instantaneous ANS nonlinear dynamics providing a foundation from which machine “understanding” of emotional response can be enhanced. Using mathematics and signal processing, this work also contributes to pragmatic issues such as emotional and mood-state modeling, elicitation, and non-invasive ANS monitoring. Throughout the text a critical review on the current state-of-the-art is reported, leading to the description of dedicated experimental protocols, novel and reliable mood models, and novel wearable systems able to perform ANS monitoring in a naturalistic environment. Biomedical engineers will find this book of interest, especially those concerned with nonlinear analysis, as will researchers and industrial technicians developing wearable systems and sensors for ANS monitoring.

Introduction to Clinical Aspects of the Autonomic Nervous System: Sixth edition, Volume Two is an all-encompassing reference to the autonomic nervous system's function, dysfunction and pathology. This updated volume describes the role of the autonomic nervous system in circadian rhythms, sleep and wakefulness, aging, exercise, and its role in pain perception. Additional chapters focus on disorders causing autonomic dysfunction, including spinal cord injuries, autonomic neuropathies, trophic disorders, progressive autonomic failure, autonomic adaptations in space and hypoxia, and autonomic testing in the laboratory. This book will help readers become well-equipped to care for patients with autonomic disorders and guide research endeavors. - Provides an extensive reference on the autonomic nervous system and its crucial functions - Discusses all aspects of autonomic physiology and pathology, including autonomic failure, spinal cord injuries, autonomic neuropathies, trophic disorders, and other forms of autonomic dysfunction - Outlines the role of the autonomic nervous system in several physiological processes, including sleep, wakefulness, aging and pain perception - Details autonomic function testing and the effects of space exploration and hypoxia on the autonomic nervous system. - Includes a chapter on the autonomic nervous system during the COVID-19 pandemic

Over the last 18 years, there have been many advances in the field of intraoperative monitoring. This new edition of Neurophysiology in Neurosurgery: A Modern Approach provides updates on the original techniques, as well as other more recent methodologies that may either prove beneficial or are commonly used in neuromonitoring. The purpose of this book is to describe the integration of neuromonitoring with surgical procedures. Each methodology is discussed in detail as well as chapters describing how those methodologies are applied to multiple surgical procedures and the evidence used to support those uses. The second edition features a surgical procedure section, which focuses on specific surgical procedures and the type of monitoring used during these procedures. The original chapters have been updated, expanded, and the structure modified to ensure the book is beneficial to both physiologists and surgeons. This book is written for neurosurgeons, neurophysiologists, neurologists, anesthesiologists, interventional neuroradiologists, orthopedic surgeons, and plastic surgeons. - Provides a valuable educational tool that describes the theoretical and practical aspects of intraoperative monitoring through example - Presents in-depth descriptions of the most advanced techniques in intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring and mapping - Features a surgical procedures section that focuses on specific surgical procedures and the type of monitoring used during these procedures

Research in electrophysiologic monitoring in anesthesia and intensive care has focussed mostly on questions pertinent for patient care: First how to quantitate drug effects on brain electrical activity and the degree of anesthetic-induced suppression of the central nervous system. Second, how to monitor functional impairment following cerebral ischemia and hypoxia. And third, how to differ entiate between drug-induced effects on the central nervous system and deleteri ous events related to reductions in cerebral blood flow and/or oxygen delivery. Even though progress has been achieved over the last 10 years in this field and fascinating new techniques have been developed, it is still not clear which monitor parameter will provide adequate information on the depth of anes thesia and the analgesic level. Because the central nervous system has been one of the main research areas in our department over the last 10 years, we organized a workshop to summarize the latest developments in central nervous system monitoring. This book comprises the topics of this workshop and is intended to provide insight into the current status of central nervous system monitoring, elucidating possible indications and delineating its limitations.

This comprehensive book addresses all elements of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and sleep interaction, as well as ANS alterations in sleep and how these impact primary and comorbid sleep dysfunction. It meets the market need for a comprehensive text that deals with ANS changes in sleep and how these impact various neurological, medical, and primary sleep disorders. Organized into three parts, the book begins with a review of the foundational bodily systems that participate in coordination of ANS activity with other homeostatic responses such as respiration, cardiovascular reflexes, and responses to stress. Part two then examines methods of laboratory evaluation and the “why, when, how” of interpreting heart rate variability in sleep. To conclude, the final section of the book broadly covers the many clinical aspects of ANS, including insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, sleep related epilepsy, and acute autonomic neuropathy. Autonomic Nervous System and Sleep enhances the reader's understanding of the pathophysiology of various disorders, and explains how to apply this profound understanding is important to new lines of therapy to improve morbidity.

Several internal and external factors have been identified to estimate and control the psycho-biological stress of training in order to optimize training responses and to avoid fatigue, overtraining and other undesirable health effects of an athlete. An increasing number of lightweight sensor-based wearable technologies (“wearables”) have entered the sports technology market. Non-invasive sensor-based wearable technologies could transmit physical, physiological and biological data to computing platform and may provide through human-machine interaction (smart watch, smartphone, tablet) bio-feedback of various parameters for training load management and health. However, in theory, several wearable technologies may assist to control training load but the assessment of accuracy, reliability, validity, usability and practical relevance of new upcoming technologies for the management of training load is paramount for optimal adaptation and health.

This book presents the concepts underlying the measurement of parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) activity in the autonomic nervous system and the application of these measurements in the development of therapeutic guidelines for treating dysfunctions in these processes. It provides an overview of the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the autonomic nervous system; details general clinical applications of P&S monitoring that are independent of specialty or disease; presents the pathophysiology of P&S dysfunction in specific disorders, expected test results, therapeutic options, and expected outcomes; and includes case studies and longitudinal studies that demonstrate the major concepts for the common diseases for which P&S monitoring is recommended. Clinical Autonomic Dysfunction enables clinicians to improve patient outcomes by identifying and treating clinical problems related to autonomic nervous system disorders.

This book discusses feature engineering and computational intelligence solutions for ECG monitoring, with a particular focus on how these methods can be efficiently used to address the emerging challenges of dynamic, continuous & long-term individual ECG monitoring and real-time feedback. By doing so, it provides a “snapshot” of the current research at the interface between physiological signal analysis and machine learning. It also helps clarify a number of dilemmas and encourages further investigations in this field, to explore rational applications of feature engineering and computational intelligence in ECG monitoring. The book is intended for researchers and graduate students in the field of biomedical engineering, ECG signal processing, and intelligent healthcare.