Nanosecond Pulse Near-Field Sensing Based Non-Contact Physiological Signals Measurement

Abstract

Clinically, basic physiological signal measurement, such as cardiovascular vibration and respiration motion detection, reveals important vital information of clinical diagnosis or personal health status evaluation. In routine, there are many preferable non-invasive methods, including electrocardiogram (ECG), pressure-sensitive transducers and applanation tonometry, to get insight of the sign of life. However, the operation of traditional monitors is relied on professionals’ experience, and also the sensing probes needed to contact to the user’s skin directly. The measurement procedure is easy to cause inconvenient and uncomfortable. To improve the issues of these measuring techniques, the non-contact and non-invasive measuring method will become an important innovation. In this paper, the novel nanosecond pulse near-field sensing (NPNS) based screening technology, which includes radio frequency (RF) pulse transmission and a flat antenna connected to transceiver of miniature radar, is proposed to monitor physical activity inside body. A dedicate analysis software built in Smartphone is also provided to calculate desired parameters, including heart rate and breath rate, for clinical or common personal applications. To evaluate the performance, the proposed method was applied on motion measurement at the body site of chest. As a result, the proposed method is validated to perform the capability of continuously long-term monitoring to reveal cardiovascular information in real-time.