Authors:
G. D'Avenio
;
C. Daniele
and
M. Grigioni
Affiliation:
Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy
Keyword(s):
Fractal dimension, Correlation integral, Physiological signals.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Biomedical Signal Processing
;
Cardiovascular Signals
;
Physiological Processes and Bio-Signal Modeling, Non-Linear Dynamics
Abstract:
During in vivo experiments of fetal cardiac surgery performed in sheep, physiological signals were recorded, and subsequently analyzed. In order to characterize their complexity, the fractal dimension was calculated. The adopted model of dimension estimation allowed for a possible multifractal nature of the signals, by considering two distinct fractal dimensions ѵ1, ѵ 2 at different length scales. A comparison was also carried out with an alternative measure of system complexity, Approximate Entropy (ApEn). The results of the analysis suggest that fractal dimension may be a useful indicator of the cardiac stress and, ultimately, of the quality of the support delivered during the operation.