Pulse rate analysis in case of central sleep apnea: a new algorithm for cardiac rate estimation.

This paper first describes the AM-FM demodulation of an arterial pressure signal. Although it is known to be efficient on signals modulated by breathing, we demonstrate that in case of lack of respiratory modulation (real or simulated central sleep apnea), the AM-FM algorithm doesn't perform well in heart rate extraction. We introduce then a new algorithm based on Singular Spectrum Analysis eigenvalues which performs better cardiac frequency estimation in this context. Respiratory estimation is possible but is beyond the scope of this paper. The error for cardiac frequency estimation is around 0.2 BPM (Beats Per Minute) versus 5.5 BPM for the AM-FM demodulation. Further experimentations will be performed (with this time both cardiac and respiratory assessments) and will deal with real sleep apnea cases.