Multiscale Renyi Entropy and Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy

Heart rate variability (HRV) is commonly analysed in respect to time and frequency domain measures as well as nonlinear measures including the fractal dimension using information derived from ECG recordings. Increased risk of adverse cardiac events such as arrhythmia can be detected using heart rate variability analysis. Shannon entropy and the more generalized Renyi entropy provide information on the complexity of the interbeat interval differences associated with heart rate. The latter can be extended to a multiscale distribution akin to fractal analysis. Here we report the spectrum of multiscale Renyi entropy measures. Multiscale Renyi entropy has additional information to add to the common mean and variance measures and should be applied as potential early markers of arrhythmia risk.