Human respiration rate estimation using body-worn ultra-wideband radar

This paper demonstrates the use of UWB radar in non-contact monitoring of respiration rates. Based on the proposed propagation model, it was shown that the delay information of the first echo conveys useful information on the breathing signal. Critical system design parameters have been identified through a sinusoidal approximation of the antenna heights. With a simple signal processing algorithm, it was verified via simulation that the respiration rate could be accurately measured for very low SNR values. Specifically, the influence of human body/cloth movements on the estimation accuracy is investigated. In future, we will be looking into the potential of employing such a system for heart beat detection.