Abstract
In order to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular performance and daily activity in the elderly, preliminary experiments were carried out using two ambulatory monitoring systems developed by the authors' group. One system is capable of long-term monitoring of human posture in normal daily life, and the other is for non-invasively monitoring beat-by-beat cardiovascular parameters, including blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (Rp). Baroreceptor-cardiac reflex sensitivity (BRS) was also calculated as an index for evaluating autonomic regulatory function. The preliminary use of these systems has clearly demonstrated that simultaneous monitoring of beat-by-beat haemodynamic parameters together with data on posture could give valuable information concerning not only orthostatic hypotension, but also on circulatory response to daily physical load.
