MicroPhysio: In-Ear Microphone based Physiological Monitoring

该项目将代表基于生理信号检测的可听音频的鲁棒性。ERC EAR项目首次证明了入耳式麦克风可用于检测活动和心率，并在剧烈运动的情况下产生有希望的精度，并且在光电体积脉搏描记仪（PPG）或惯性运动单元（imu）方面具有卓越的性能。麦克风已经嵌入到可穿戴设备中用于音频相关目的，不像PPG或imu在这些设备中不履行任何其他功能，并且在硬件方面以及在传感计算需求和能源方面都特别便宜。目前市场上还没有使用音频进行生理信号检测的解决方案，而PI是将音频用于生理和诊断方面的领先专家。具体而言，该项目旨在i)改进和展示基于入耳式音频传感的野外可行性，用于检测人类活动，心率和呼吸监测；Ii)将该技术集成到商业级原型中；Iii)对技术（和原型）进行稳健性验证；Iv)创新算法，提高鲁棒性和系统性能；V)追求原型的开发和传播。该项目的高利润将是达到20亿的可穿戴设备市场份额，将经济、准确的生理监测带到世界人口手中。在实现这一目标的过程中存在着需要克服的风险，但在PI领域、团队和业已建立的工业支持方面的良好记录减轻了这些风险。

The project will represent the robustness of earable audio based detection of physiological signal. Project ERC EAR has been the first to demonstrate that in-ear microphone can be used to detect activity and heart rate and to yield promising precision in case of intense motion and with superior performance with respect to photoplethysmography (PPG) or inertial movement units (IMUs). Microphones are already embedded in earables for audio related purposes, unlike PPG or IMUs which do not fulfil any other functions in these devices, and are especially inexpensive both in terms of hardware but also in terms of sensing computation needs and energy. There are currently no solutions in the market which use audio for physiological signal detection and the PI is the leading expert in the use of audio for physiology and diagnostics. Specifically the project aims at i) improving and demonstrating the in the wild feasibility of in-ear based audio sensing for detection of human activity, heart rate and respiration monitoring; ii) integrating the technology into a commercial grade prototype; iii) perform a robustness validation of the technology (and prototype); iv) innovate on the algorithms to improve robustness and system performance; v) pursue exploitation and dissemination of the prototype. The high gain of the project will be the reaching the 2 billion market share of earables, bring physiological monitoring in the hands of the world population affordably and accurately. There are risks to overcome in the achievements of this objectives but they are mitigated by the strong track record in the area of the PI and the team and the industrial support established.