Visualisation of heart rate variability data using topographic mappings

Sammon's (1969) nonlinear mapping is applied to the visualisation of heart rate variability (HRV) spectral data. The mapping provides a graphical depiction of the relationships between the HRV spectra, and does not require the explicit subdivision of the spectra into the traditional low- and high-frequency fixed bands. Application of the mapping technique to HRV from physiological and pharmacological interventions and a cohort of sleep apnoea patients produced logical representations of the data sets. The method has application to the visualisation of a wide variety of biomedical signal data.