A Bendable and Wearable Cardiorespiratory Monitoring Device Fusing Two Noncontact Sensor Principles

This paper presents a mobile device for monitoring respiration and pulse. The device is realized as a bendable inlay, which can be put into a shirt pocket or the inside pocket of a jacket. In order to achieve optimum monitoring performance, the device combines two sensor principles both working in a noncontact way through several layers of cotton or other textiles. One sensor is based on magnetic induction and is intended for respiratory monitoring, the other one is a reflective photoplethysmographic sensor intended for pulse detection. Furthermore, since each sensor signal shows a certain dependence on both physiological parameters, fusing the sensor signals renders the possibility of signal coverage enhancement.