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The authors propose a simulated first heart sound (S1) signal that can be used as a reference signal to evaluate the accuracy of time-frequency representation techniques for studying multicomponent signals. The composition of this simulated S1 is based on the hypothesis that an S1 recorded on the thorax over the apical area of the heart is composed of constant frequency vibrations from the mitral valve and a frequency modulated vibration from the myocardium. Essentially, the simulated S1 consists of a valvular component and a myocardial component. The valvular component is modelled as two exponentially decaying sinusoids of 50 Hz and 150 Hz and the myocardial component is modelled by a frequency modulated wave between 20 Hz and 100 Hz. The study shows that the simulated S1 has temporal and spectral characteristics similar to S1 recorded in humans and dogs. It also shows that the spectrogram cannot resolve the three components of the simulated S1. It is concluded that it is necessary to search for a better time-frequency representation technique for studying the time-frequency distribution of multicomponent signals such as the simulated S1.

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