CNS Core: Small: Non-contact Monitoring of Respiration and Heart Rates Through Light-wave Sensing

在许多卫生保健机构中，需要谨慎地监测人类的呼吸和心率。监测的应用包括警告疲劳的司机或飞行员、虚拟现实或游戏的主动反馈、焦虑监测、安全筛查以及睡眠呼吸暂停、呼吸急促、心动过速和心动过缓的健康监测。这个项目研究了一种谨慎的、非接触的方法，利用光来监测呼吸和心率。从概念上讲，从一个对象反射的光强度跟随与呼吸和心跳相关的细微身体运动，从而可以提取速率。该方法具有高隐私性和零无线电干扰风险，但其理论有效性和准确性尚不清楚。该项目旨在了解该技术的基本限制，这将决定它在现实世界中的表现。除了技术兴趣，该项目还将为下一代工程师和科学家提供独特的教育机会，包括课程模块以及培训和外展。这项工作将使用光传感和通信工具包，通过俄勒冈州立大学夏季桥或探索日等项目，学生们建立自己的低成本，便携式，基于光的无线通信系统，这是一个非常成功的活动，可以激发兴趣和招聘。司法部长们将继续致力于通过“OK Louis Stokes少数民族参与联盟”项目指导代表性不足的学生。这项工作的目标是确定光波呼吸和心率监测的极限，作为光源强度、波长、环境照明、光电探测器、范围、衣服和光学布局的函数。一个人形机器人将被制造出来，并被人造皮肤和多种衣物覆盖。使用微控制器控制的致动器，它将准确地模拟人类在呼吸过程中产生的运动。在受控条件下，系统地测量不同的照明条件、光源、光学布局和视场、服装类型、主体位置/方向和驱动器模式，以确定对系统信噪比的影响。信号处理算法将应用于测量数据，以测试统计准确性，并确定从嘈杂的环境条件中提取速率的效果。所得到的数据将为传感器性能的理论模型的发展提供基础。重要的是，它还将揭示重要的科学，即通过现代光电探测器技术的简单散射和强度测量可以传达的信息内容的局限性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In many health care settings there is a need to discreetly monitor respiration and heart rates in humans. The applications for monitoring include warning fatigued drivers or pilots, active feedback for virtual reality or gaming, anxiety monitoring, security screening, and health monitoring for sleep apnea, tachypnea, tachycardia, and bradycardia. This project investigates a discreet, non-contact method of using light to monitor respiration and heart rates. In concept, the intensity of light reflected from a subject follows the subtle body movements associated with breathing and heartbeat, enabling extraction of the rates. The method offers high privacy with zero risks of radio interference, but its theoretical effectiveness and accuracy are not yet clear. This project seeks to understand the fundamental limits of the technique, which will determine how well it can perform in real-world situations. Apart from the technological interest, the project will enable unique educational opportunities for next-generation engineers and scientists, including class modules as well as training and outreach. This work will use an outreach effort with light sensing and communication kits in which students, through programs like OSU Summer Bridge or Discovery Days, build their own low-cost, portable, light-based wireless communication system, a highly successful activity for stimulating interest and recruitment. The PIs will continue their commitment to mentoring underrepresented students through the OK Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program. The goal of the work is to determine the limits of lightwave respiration and heartrate monitoring as a function of source intensity, wavelength, ambient lighting, photodetector, range, clothing, and optical layout. A human-like robot will be built and covered with artificial skin and multiple clothing items. Using actuators controlled by a microcontroller, it will accurately simulate motions produced by humans during breathing. Different lighting conditions, sources, optical layouts and fields of view, clothing types, subject positions/orientations, and actuator patterns will be systematically measured in controlled conditions to determine the effects on the system signal-to-noise ratio. Signal processing algorithms will be applied to measured data to test the statistical accuracy and to determine how well rates can be extracted from noisy ambient conditions. The resulting data will provide a foundation upon which theoretical models of the sensor performance can be developed. Importantly, it will also reveal important science about the limitations of information content that can be conveyed through simple scattering and intensity measurements with modern photodetector technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.