Patent ID: 7933644

Claim:
A method of determining the details of dynamic autonomic nervous system function from the measured variability of heart activity occurring during a time period approximating the inverse of the lowest frequency component of the heart rate variability chosen for analysis, comprising the steps of: sequentially receiving data points of heart activity data over a period of time corresponding to the said time period of the heart activity; evaluating said data points as sequentially received to determine QRS events; outputting said QRS events to a processor as they are sequentially determined; processing said output QRS events using time-frequency, nonlinear, nonstationary analysis methods as they are output to periodically determine autonomic nervous system information, wherein said autonomic nervous system information is based on a selected number of output QRS events corresponding to the said selected time period; and periodically redetermining said autonomic nervous system information using at least some subsequently output QRS events; and during said period of time corresponding to the time period of the heart activity, displaying the most recently determined autonomic nervous system information.