A Feasibility Study of Pulse Rate Per Respiration as an Indicator for the Reaction to Cold Stress

Abstract

Cold and Heat pattern identification(CHPI) in traditional East Asian medicine(TEAM) is one of the major indicator to distinguish characteristics of disease and to determine treatment method. Basic parameters to determine CHPI include the pulse rate, respiration rate, and pulse power. Studies to associate physiological responses of human body by cold stress(CS) with CHPI in TEAM were rarely done so far. This study aims to explore the effects of cold stress on pulse signal via a feasibility study for three subjects and investigate some indices which can reflect autonomic nerve reaction(ANR). We measured radial pulse signals and respiration signal of the investigated subjects before the CS, during the CS which continues for 5 minutes, and immediately after the CS, respectively. Finally, we analyzed the pulse rate (P), respiration rate (R), pulse power, pulse depth, and pulse rate per respiration (P/R ratio). As a result, the P/R ratio showed a consistently decreasing tendency through the CS stimulation process, while other parameters behaved more complex and in subject-specific ways. It implies that, among candidate parameters, the P/R ratio is a simple but the most probable parameter that can be used as the ANR indicator. This result is also consistent with the theory in TEAM scripts, in which the P/R ratio is predicted to be a direct indicator for the CHPI. This pilot study shows that P/R ratio can be more appropriately associated with the ANR than heart rate or respiration rate alone. Extensive studies will be necessary to verify or confirm the P/R ratio as an appropriate and well defined parameter for ANR.