On the convergence and accuracy of the cardiovascular intrinsic frequency method

R Soc Open Sci. 2015 Dec 16;2(12):150475. doi: 10.1098/rsos.150475. eCollection 2015 Dec.

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the convergence, accuracy and stability of the intrinsic frequency (IF) method. The IF method is a descendant of the sparse time frequency representation methods. These methods are designed for analysing nonlinear and non-stationary signals. Specifically, the IF method is created to address the cardiovascular system that by nature is a nonlinear and non-stationary dynamical system. The IF method is capable of handling specific nonlinear and non-stationary signals with less mathematical regularity. In previous works, we showed the clinical importance of the IF method. There, we showed that the IF method can be used to evaluate cardiovascular performance. In this article, we will present further details of the mathematical background of the IF method by discussing the convergence and the accuracy of the method with and without noise. It will be shown that the waveform fit extracted from the signal is accurate even in the presence of noise.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; instantaneous frequency; intrinsic frequency; pulse wave analysis; ventricular/arterial coupling.