Use of AI algorithms to assess heart rate variability in IUGR and normal children

Taher Biala1, Sau Vana2, Joao .A. Lobo Marques3, Ye Lia4, Fernando Schlindwein1
1University of Leicester, 2Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China, 3University of Saint Joseph,, 4Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,


Abstract

fetal growth has been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart diseases in later life. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive method reflecting auto-nomic cardiac function .A decreased heart rate variability has been associated with arrhythmic complications in humans. The main objective of this work is to use AI, a machine learning solution ,to identify the most significant features of importance based on physiological, clinical or socioeconomic factors correlated with previous IUGR condition after 10 years of birth. Methods: In this work, 41 IUGR (18 male) and 34 Non-IUGR (22 male) children were followed up 9 years after the birth, in average (9.1786 ± 0.6784 years old). AI , machine learning algorithms is proposed to classify children previously identified as born under IUGR condition based on 24-hours monitoring of ECG (Holter) and blood pressure (ABPM), and other clinical and socioeconomic attributes. In additional, an algorithm of relevance determination based on the classifier is also proposed, to determine the level of importance of the considered features. Results: The proposed classification solution achieved accuracy up to 94.73%, and better performance than seven state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms. Also, relevant latent factors related to HRV and BP monitoring are proposed, such as: day-time heart rate (day-time HR), day-night systolic blood pressure (day-night SBP), 24-hour standard deviation (SD) of SBP, dropped, morning cortisol creatinine, 24-hour mean of SDs of all NN intervals for each 5 minutes segment (24-hour SDNNi), among others. Conclusion: With outstanding accuracy of the proposed solutions, the classification system and the indication of relevant attributes may support medical teams on the clinical monitoring of IUGR children during their childhood development.