Towards Contactless Remote Health Monitoring using Ambient RF Sensing

In this paper, a passive (bi-static) radar-based health monitoring system called, HBR-Radio, is introduced. HBR-Radio utilizes ambient radio frequency disturbance sensing to achieve remote health monitoring. HBR-Radio is a vital signs monitoring system that detects heartbeat and breathing rates without the need for any body mounted contact based devices. A Wi-Fi access point, using a standard 802.11 protocol, is utilized as the transmitter (illuminator) of the system. A Software-Defined Radio (SDR) platform is used to capture the signal transmitted directly from the source (reference signal), and the reflected signals from the surroundings including the one reflected from the monitored person (scatter signal). To extract the desired vital signs, several signal processing techniques are utilized. The importance of the introduced system stems from the need for developing integrated smart remote ubiquitous health monitoring systems that are convenient to users in modern society. The proposed system serves as an example application of the potential of ambient RF sensing as an enabling technology for better quality of life.