Real-time heart rate entropy predicts the need for lifesaving interventions in trauma activation patients.

Background: Heart rate complexity (HRC), commonly described as a "new vital sign," has shown promise in predicting injury severity, but its use in clinical practice has been precluded by the absence of real-time data. This study was conducted to evaluate the utility of real-time, automated, instantaneous, hand-held heart rate entropy analysis in predicting the need for lifesaving interventions (LSIs). We hypothesized that real-time HRC would predict LSIs.

Development of a rugged handheld device for real-time analysis of heart rate: entropy in critically ill patients.

Introduction: The usefulness of heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate complexity (HRC) analysis as a potential triage tool has been limited by the inability to perform real-time analysis on a portable, handheld monitoring platform. Through a multidisciplinary effort of academia and industry, we report on the development of a rugged, handheld and noninvasive device that provides HRV and HRC analysis in real-time in critically ill patients.

Methods: After extensive re-engineering, real-time HRV and HRC analyses were incorporated into an existing, rugged, handheld monitoring platform.