On the development of a low-cost real-time remote patient monitoring system using a novel non-invasive microwave vital signs sensor

In this paper we describe the telemedicine related research and development efforts at Hawaii Center for Advanced Communications (HCAC). Our group has prototyped an interactive telemedicine system comprising of several medical sensors for remote diagnosis, and has design a novel non-invasive microwave vital signs sensor and associated digital signal processing (DSP) methods for continuous remote monitoring applications. The microwave sensor measures an integrated signal that when processed provides heart rate, respiration rate, changes in lung-fluid content, as well as the stroke volume. The developed low cost interactive telemedicine prototype, the design and measurements of the microwave sensor, as well as the signal analysis technique used to extract vital signs are described in the paper.