Evaluation of anxiety related changes in skin conductance and blood volume pulse signals during coronary angiography

Abstract

Although, stress, sleep deprivation, excessive fatigue and inattention are common health problem in advanced society, there are many methodological problems that make it difficult to measure these emotional states in clinical situations. The main goal of this study is to investigate whether variation of stress due to treatment techniques used in a hospital setting can be successfully assessed and/or quantized using physiological variables. To this end, blood volume pulse and skin conductance signals of 8 patients who underwent angiography operation at the Cardiology Center of Erciyes University (Kayseri, Turkey), are obtained. Recordings were done at three stages: one hour before, during, and one hour after the angiography test. Our preliminary results indicate that the changes in the physiological variables across different subjects are remarkably consistent. This promising result is motivating us to consider and include other possible physiological variables and/or signals in our recording scheme to quantitatively assess changes in the emotional state of subjects undergoing critical operations.