Pulse morphology visualization and analysis with applications in cardiovascular pressure signals

We present a new analysis and visualization method for studying the functional relationship between the pulse morphology of pressure signals and time or signal metrics such as heart rate, pulse pressure, and means of pressure signals, such as arterial blood pressure and central venous pressure. The pulse morphology is known to contain potentially useful clinical information, but it is difficult to study in the time domain without the aid of a tool such as the method we present here. The primary components of the method are established signal processing techniques, nonparametric regression, and an automatic beat detection algorithm. Some of the insights that can be gained from this are demonstrated through the analysis of intracranial pressure signals acquired from patients with traumatic brain injuries. The analysis indicates the point of transition from low-pressure morphology consisting of three distinct peaks to a high-pressure morphology consisting of a single peak. In addition, we demonstrate how the analysis can reveal distinctions in the relationship between morphology and several signal metrics for different patients.