Analysis of the right ventricular function in the exercising horse: use of the Fourier Transform.

The research article presents a new technique to study heart function in horses during exercise by eliminating interference from stride and respiration on blood pressure waveforms.

Objective of the Study

• This study aimed to establish and test a method that allows the study of dynamic cardiac function during exercise in horses.
• The task was challenging because blood pressure waveforms in horses during such activities are difficult to comprehend due to the significant impact of stride and respiration.

Methodology

• A technique was created to observe dynamic right ventricular variables during high-speed physical activity in horses.
• This involved conducting a Fast Fourier Transform on the digitized pressure waveforms to distinguish the frequency components associated with stride and respiration.
• Once these elements were removed, an inverse Fourier Transform was executed to create a time-domain pressure signal.
• The derived signal was then used to compute several dynamic right ventricular variables.

Variables and Parameters

• Different parameters linked to the removal of frequencies from the frequency-domain pressure signal were altered to measure their effect on the variables.
• Findings showed most of the variables were not sensitive to these parameters.

Comparison during Exercise

• A comparison was made between different exercise bouts, revealing that some variables differed amongst runs, while others were not significantly so.
• Concluding that the signal separation technique described can critically analyse right ventricular function of an exercising horse.