Automated Assessment of a Students Circulatory System Functional State Using Martine's Test

Abstract

Background. The systematic self-control of students' health state allows optimizing the educational process organization of physical education and contribute improving the functioning of body systems. One of the common methods of such observation is the functional Martine's test, which provides an opportunity to investigate the dynamics of changes in blood pressure and heart rate between the resting state and every minute for five minutes after the load. In most cases, this load characteristic sufficiently fully reflects the student's cardiovascular system state. The determination of the characteristic patterns of such states will allow offering a mechanism for assessing the functional state of the circulatory system. The regular Martine's testing will allow observing the dynamics and evaluating changes in the body during the observation period.

Objective. Creation of an automated system for assessing of a student’s circulatory system functional state changes.

Methods. The students database of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” created during the research by the Department of Physical Education, was used for the study. To determine the functional patterns, separately for boys and girls, cluster analysis was used by the  "k-means" method in the parameter space of the blood pressure and heart rate measured during the functional Martine's test. As a result, 7 clusters of states for young men and 8 clusters for girls were obtained. Clusters differ significantly in the nature of the response of blood pressure and heart rate to the load test. The centroids of the resulting clusters were further considered as functional patterns (the most typical representatives) of the body's response to the test physical load. The assessment of the circulatory system functional state is calculated by comparing the student test data with the previously defined functional patterns by the minimum Euclidean distance criterion. Conclusions about the functional state of the system are formed.

Results. The clusters of the circulatory system functional states in the extended space of blood pressure and heart rate parameters of functional Martine's test are obtained. The clusters correspond to the normal states and different stages of the regulatory reserves reduction of the body. The algorithm allowing to consider features of an organism functional state at essential deviation of Martine's test indicators from a certain functional pattern is developed. This admits controlling the individual level of physical activity, adapting the training program and identifying conditions requiring additional medical control.

Conclusions. As a study result, the automated system for assessing the functional state of technical university students circulatory system using Martine's test was developed. The system relates observation to one of the study sample clusters that were obtained using the "k-means" method. For additional information on the state of the circulatory system, the average radius of the cluster is used, since objects that are far removed from the center may have properties similar to those of a neighboring cluster. The developed system provides an opportunity for screening control the students cardiovascular system state during the educational process.