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Frequency-domain HRV metrics

What it does

This method integrates conventional LF and HF powers or, alternatively, respiration-related and respiration-unrelated spectra obtained after orthogonal subspace projection.

When to use it

Use conventional mode to summarize an HRV spectrum in standard frequency bands. Use respiration-separated mode only when the supplied spectra represent the related and residual components of a compatible OSP analysis.

Canonical ID: hrv.fdmetrics

Inputs

Name Meaning Type Unit Requirements
pxx Power spectral density used by the conventional LF/HF mode. real vector caller-defined power/Hz minimum: 0; minimum length: 1; NaN allowed; finite
related_pxx Spectrum of the HRV component linearly related to respiration. real vector 1/Hz minimum: 0; minimum length: 1; NaN allowed; finite
unrelated_pxx Spectrum of the residual HRV component not represented by respiration. real vector 1/Hz minimum: 0; minimum length: 1; NaN allowed; finite
f Strictly increasing frequency grid shared by the supplied spectrum or spectra. real vector Hz minimum: 0; minimum length: 1; no NaN; finite

Parameters

Name Meaning Type Unit Default Requirements
limit_hf Whether conventional HF integration stops at the represented 0.4 Hz boundary. boolean dimensionless yes not specified

Outputs

Name Meaning Type Unit
hf Integrated conventional high-frequency power. real scalar caller-defined power
lf Integrated conventional low-frequency power. real scalar caller-defined power
lfn Low-frequency power normalized by the combined LF and HF power. real scalar 1
lfhf Ratio between conventional low-frequency and high-frequency power. real scalar 1
urlf Respiration-unrelated low-frequency power. real scalar 1
re Respiration-related power over the represented analysis range. real scalar 1
r Normalized respiration-unrelated LF index. real scalar 1

How it works

Band samples are selected directly from the supplied frequency grid and integrated without interpolating new spectral points. The represented grid therefore determines the effective band coverage. Respiration-separated mode reports unrelated LF power, related power, and a bounded normalized index.

Interpretation and limitations

LF and HF powers are descriptive and should not be treated as pure sympathetic or parasympathetic measures. Spectral estimation, detrending, record length, stationarity, artifacts, and respiratory conditions can dominate interpretation. Partial frequency coverage should be reported explicitly.

References

  • Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (1996). Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. European Heart Journal.
  • Carolina Varon et al. (2019). Unconstrained Estimation of HRV Indices After Removing Respiratory Influences From Heart Rate. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. doi:10.1109/JBHI.2018.2884644
  • Binbin Liu et al. (2019). An improved method to evaluate heart rate variability based on time-variant cardiorespiratory relation. Journal of Applied Physiology. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00125.2019

Implementations and technical resources

Python source | MATLAB source

Normative JSON | Validation cases