Microwave doppler sensor in heart rate detection and analysis for mobile devices

• Main Author: Choy, Beng Chow.
• Other Authors: Lin Feng
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Software::Software engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Computer applications::Life and medical sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/55018
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Cardiac anomalies are one of the primary reasons for rapid human health degradation which may eventually lead to death. Therefore, detecting early symptoms will improve the chance of full recovery after treatment of the cardiac anomalies. An efficient heart rate detection approach can contribute greatly to not only long-term bedside monitoring, but also for medical emergency. In this report, the author discusses existing alternative approaches to heart rate detection and proposes a new contactless approach. The new approach is based on the Doppler Effect which uses frequency change in microwaves to monitor the heart movement. A continuous wave Doppler radar was used to collect the microwave signals and a Matlab program designed by the author was used to convert the microwave signals into a velocity vs. time graph. The graphic user interface was implemented in Visual C# to facilitate mobile access through the web portal. From the results, the author interprets the relationship between the velocity vs. time graph and the actual physical movement of the heart. Using the relationship, the author detects the heart rate and also suggests ways to detect cardiac anomalies. Finally, the usefulness of the proposed approach is discussed and recommendation for further work is suggested.