Autonomic Testing for Cardiology

The Heart Doesn't Work Alone. Neither Should the Cardiovascular Assessment.

Cardiologists routinely evaluate heart rhythm, cardiac structure and function, blood pressure, vascular health, and exercise capacity. But cardiovascular function is also influenced by the autonomic nervous system—the system that continuously helps regulate heart rate, blood pressure, vascular tone, and the body's response to physiologic stress.

When a patient's symptoms do not fully align with conventional cardiovascular findings, autonomic function may be an important additional consideration.

Physio PS is FDA 510(k) cleared and designed for use by physicians and healthcare providers.

When the Cardiovascular Picture Doesn't Fully Explain the Patient

Some patients continue to experience:

  • Dizziness or lightheadedness

  • Syncope or presyncope

  • Orthostatic symptoms

  • Palpitations

  • Unexplained or disproportionate tachycardia

  • Blood-pressure instability

  • Exercise intolerance

  • Fatigue

  • Symptoms that persist despite an otherwise extensive cardiovascular evaluation

These presentations can have multiple possible causes. Autonomic dysfunction is one potential contributor and should be considered in the context of the patient's history, examination, cardiovascular evaluation, medications, comorbidities, and other diagnostic findings.

What Is Autonomic Testing?

Autonomic testing evaluates physiologic responses controlled or influenced by the autonomic nervous system.

Depending on the clinical question, autonomic evaluation may include orthostatic vital signs, active standing, tilt-table testing, Valsalva maneuver, deep-breathing responses, sudomotor testing, heart-rate and blood-pressure responses, and other established autonomic assessments.

Physio PS provides a different type of autonomic assessment. According to Physio PS, its system uses ECG, blood-pressure, and heart-rate data to evaluate parasympathetic and sympathetic activity independently and simultaneously during an approximately 15-minute, non-invasive monitoring session.

What Physio PS Adds

Physio PS is designed to provide quantitative information about autonomic regulation that can complement the broader cardiovascular assessment.

Parasympathetic Activity

Information related to the autonomic branch involved in recovery, cardiac slowing, and physiologic regulation.

Sympathetic Activity

Information related to the autonomic branch involved in cardiovascular activation and responses to physiologic demand.

Heart Rate & Blood Pressure

Physiologic measurements that provide important context for interpreting autonomic responses.

Autonomic Response

Information about how autonomic activity relates to the patient's physiologic state and measured cardiovascular variables.

A Complement to the Cardiac Workup

Physio PS is not intended to replace standard cardiovascular evaluation.

Instead, it can provide another source of quantitative physiologic information when the clinician is considering whether autonomic regulation may be contributing to the patient's presentation.

Consider Autonomic Assessment When:

  • Symptoms appear disproportionate to conventional findings

  • Orthostatic symptoms are prominent

  • Syncope or presyncope remains unexplained

  • Tachycardia does not have an obvious explanation

  • The patient reports significant exercise intolerance

  • Symptoms persist after an extensive cardiac evaluation

  • A clinician wants additional quantitative information about autonomic function

  • Longitudinal autonomic measurements may be clinically useful

The Clinical Question

The question is not whether every cardiology patient needs autonomic testing.

The question is:

When the cardiovascular picture doesn't fully explain the patient, have you considered the autonomic component?

Physio PS gives cardiologists another way to obtain quantitative information about autonomic regulation—approximately 15 minutes, non-invasive, and designed to fit into clinical practice.

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