Machine Learning Model Based on Transthoracic Bioimpedance and Heart Rate Variability for Lung Fluid Accumulation Detection: Prospective Clinical Study

Background: Accumulation of excess body fluid and autonomic dysregulation are clinically important characteristics of acute decompensated heart failure. We hypothesized that transthoracic bioimpedance, a noninvasive, simple method for measuring fluid retention in lungs, and heart rate variability, an assessment of autonomic function, can be used for detection of fluid accumulation in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the performance of transthoracic bioimpedance and heart rate variability parameters obtained using a fluid accumulation vest with carbon black–polydimethylsiloxane dry electrodes in a prospective clinical study (System for Heart Failure Identification Using an External Lung Fluid Device; SHIELD). Methods: We computed 15 parameters: 8 were calculated from the model to fit Cole-Cole plots from transthoracic bioimpedance measurements (extracellular, intracellular, intracellular-extracellular difference, and intracellular-extracellular parallel circuit resistances as well as fitting error, resonance frequency, tissue heterogeneity, and cellular membrane capacitance), and 7 were based on linear (mean heart rate, low-frequency components of heart rate variability, high-frequency components of heart rate variability, normalized low-frequency components of heart rate variability, normalized high-frequency components of heart rate variability) and nonlinear (principal dynamic mode index of sympathetic function, and principal dynamic mode index of parasympathetic function) analysis of heart rate variability. We compared the values of these parameters between 3 participant data sets: control (n=32, patients who did not have heart failure), baseline (n=23, patients with acute decompensated heart failure taken at the time of admittance to the hospital), and discharge (n=17, patients with acute decompensated heart failure taken at the time of discharge from hospital). We used several machine learning approaches to classify participants with fluid accumulation (baseline) and without fluid accumulation (control and discharge), termed with fluid and without fluid groups, respectively. Results: Among the 15 parameters, 3 transthoracic bioimpedance (extracellular resistance, R0; difference in extracellular-intracellular resistance, R0 – R∞, and tissue heterogeneity, α) and 3 heart rate variability (high-frequency, normalized low-frequency, and normalized high-frequency components) parameters were found to be the mos