Contactless and Unobtrusive Measurement of Heart Rate in Home Environment

Current technology trends, such as ubiquitous computing and calm technology, call for novel unobtrusive sensors. The commonly used heart rate monitoring techniques require direct contact to the patient which makes the patient well aware of the sensors. In this paper, a novel method for detecting the distance of an approaching patient and for measuring his or her heart rate with a microwave Doppler radar is presented. This enables a truly non-contact and unobtrusive measurement. In addition, the measurement can be performed even through thick clothing. Furthermore, the patient does not need to be aware of being monitored since the method enables measurement to be started automatically as the patient approaches the sensor