Multifractality in human heartbeat dynamics.
There is evidence that physiological signals under healthy conditions may have a fractal temporal structure. Here we investigate the possibility that time series generated by certain physiological control systems may be members of a special class of complex processes, termed multifractal, which require a large number of exponents to characterize their scaling properties. We report on evidence for multifractality in a biological dynamical system, the healthy human heartbeat, and show that the multifractal character and nonlinear properties of the healthy heart rate are encoded in the Fourier phases. We uncover a loss of multifractality for a life-threatening condition, congestive heart failure.
Ivanov
P C
PC
Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA. plamen@buphy.bu.edu
Amaral
L A
LA
Goldberger
A L
AL
Havlin
S
S
Rosenblum
M G
MG
Struzik
Z R
ZR
Stanley
H E
HE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*