MicroPhysio: In-Ear Microphone based Physiological Monitoring

该项目将代表基于生理信号检测的可耳音频的鲁棒性。ERC项目首次证明，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，并且在光电体积描记（PPG）或惯性运动单元（伊穆斯）方面具有上级性能。麦克风已经被嵌入到用于音频相关目的的可穿戴设备中，不像PPG或伊穆斯，其在这些设备中不实现任何其他功能，并且在硬件方面以及在感测计算需求和能量方面都特别便宜。目前市场上没有使用音频进行生理信号检测的解决方案，PI是使用音频进行生理和诊断的领先专家。具体而言，该项目旨在i）改进和展示用于检测人类活动、心率和呼吸监测的耳内音频传感的野外可行性; ii）将该技术集成到商业级原型中; iii）对该技术进行鲁棒性验证。（和原型）; iv）创新算法以提高鲁棒性和系统性能; v）继续开发和传播原型。该项目的高收益将是达到20亿的可穿戴市场份额，使世界人口能够负担得起和准确地进行生理监测。在实现这一目标的过程中，有一些风险需要克服，但由于PI和团队在该领域的良好记录以及所建立的工业支持，这些风险得到了缓解。

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.