We are excited to announce our patent for Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Therapy has been approved! This patent covers the use of Audio-Visual Entrainment and visual cues to enhance breathing using the Spectrum Eyeset in conjunction with the DAVID Breathe PC app for one of the most effective methods of heart rate variability training available today.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation in the time between each heartbeat. HRV is related but different than heart rate (HR) which is measured by the number of times a person’s heart beats per minute. Unlike heart rate, which can be calculated by counting your pulse, heart rate variability is typically measured by comparing the heart rate on the in breath versus the heart rate on the out breath and how smoothly that transition occurs. When the heart rhythm properly follows respiration, the heart rate swings upwards in frequency during inspiration (i.e., a sympathetic response) and slows down (i.e., a parasympathetic vagal response) during expiration. HRV is a biofeedback mechanism of quickly and scientifically achieving meditative breathing or prana.
HRV is a good measure of the efficiency and performance of a person’s cardiovascular system. A high HRV number is a good indicator of general health with less risk of diseases. A lower HRV is associated with increased mortality from heart attacks, strokes, and adrenal fatigue from disease and stress.
HRV may also be a marker of how well a person’s handles stress. A person who has good coping strategies/techniques for handling stress, typically has better HRV during stress. A person struggling to cope with life stressors will have poor HRV and it will be difficult to bounce back after a stressful situation.
The failings with traditional HRV therapy and biofeedback are that the more anxious the person is, the poorer the outcomes from the therapy. Highly anxious persons are so agitated and overwhelmed with racy-headed thoughts, that the persons often cannot or are unable to follow the most basic of instructions such as cuing when to breathe in and breathe out. So traditional HRV training fails in the people who are in most need of it.
Consequently, there is a desire for a technology to calm the nervous system. We have now brought this technology into our Spectrum eyeset and Breathe app. The entrainment breaks the fight-or-flight pattern and initiates calming which is the first step to proper HRV breathing. Rather than use rigid cues to indicate when to breathe in and out, the Spectrum changes color to indicate when to breathe in and out. This color is perceived more as a suggestion rather than a rigid demand. With both the calming effects of the entrainment and the gentle suggestion of the changing colors, a person easily goes into a parasympathetic (calm) state of being.
DAVID Breathe is a free Windows 11 based PC app. De-stress with DAVID Breathe on your home or work PC. DAVID Breathe is a tool that helps you learn to breathe in a calm and meditative way, so you can re-establish a healthy heart rate rhythm using heart rate variability. Add Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) using the optional Spectrum™ eyeset and your own stereo headphones for a profoundly relaxing breathing break.
Learn more about Heart Rate Variability by watching this webinar: https://youtu.be/xNXhSyjv0Fg
This blog post explains how to set up a group with Spectrum eyesets: Setting up an AVE group session with Spectrum eyesets
This blog post explains how to use a Spectrum during a break to turn it into a mini-getaway if you are unable to leave your desk: Get Refreshed with a Mini-Getaway and Spectrum
This video shows you how to use your Spectrum Eyeset with the DAVID Breathe PC app. https://youtu.be/B2jlYYnEUGc
Here is a Spectrum eyeset demo video by Dave Siever https://youtu.be/RCBEjzXpnc0
Fig. 3 Illustrates a flow chart illustrating our method with breathing cues for managing heart rate variability.
Fig. 5 Illustrates a set of sample results from a user that used the method of Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 Illustrates an example of a person who could not respond to HRV Biofeedback. set of sample results with hypertension monitoring from a user that used the method of Fig. 3.
Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a representation HR and HRV characteristics before and after using the method of Fig. 3. This EmWavePC by Heart Math screen shows poor HRV by a user with anxiety before and after using our AVE HRV system. Panel 94 shows a very stable pattern in comparison to her pre-AVE HRV pattern in panel 86. Panel 100 shows the user is relaxed.
Fig. 8 illustrates a graph of HRV v. frequency spectra representative of a person attempting HRV Biofeedback with a poor response.
Fig. 9 illustrates HRV v frequency spectra representative of the same person using HRV Breathe app and AVE training showing a good response.
