The Relationship of Age with Spectral Components of Noise-Free Realizations of Photoplethysmographic Signals: Outcomes of a Nonlinear Identification Approach

Abstract

Background: Age-related changes in the vascular network have been widely documented, however, nonlinear identification has been poorly applied to the analysis of cardiovascular signals.

Objective: To determine the impact of age on spectral components of Noise-free realizations (NFR) obtained from photoplethysmographic signals, summarized in the Kernel Complexity Regressive Index (KCRIndex).

Methods: With  190 apparently healthy participants (9 to 89 years) from Orense, Spain, Photoplethysmographic signals were recorded during 5 minutes in supine position using Nellcor-395 pulse oximeter; signals were digitized at 1000 Hz, and furtherly submitted to nonlinear identification via a kernel nonlinear autoregressive estimator. KCRIndex is defined as the average of at least three negative slope values at the NFR log-log spectrum in the 9 to 25 Hz frequency region.

Results: KCRIndex decreased with age in a linear fashion and did not differ between genders. The regression line obtained was KCRIndex=-0.025*age+6.868 (r=-0.751).

Conclusions:  KCRIndex, is strongly correlated with age, thus opening up new possibilities for cardiovascular exploration at primary health care settings and even on open field conditions.

Key words: cardiovascular age, photoplethysmographic signal, nonlinear dynamics, nonlinear nonparametric regression, KCRIndex