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Schroth CA, Eckrich C, Kakouche I, Fabian S, von Stryk O, Zoubir AM, Muma M. Emergency Response Person Localization and Vital Sign Estimation Using a Semi-Autonomous Robot Mounted SFCW Radar. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2024; 71:1756-1769. [PMID: 38190678 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2024.3350789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
The large number and scale of natural and man-made disasters have led to an urgent demand for technologies that enhance the safety and efficiency of search and rescue teams. Semi-autonomous rescue robots are beneficial, especially when searching inaccessible terrains, or dangerous environments, such as collapsed infrastructures. For search and rescue missions in degraded visual conditions or non-line of sight scenarios, radar-based approaches may contribute to acquire valuable, and otherwise unavailable information. This article presents a complete signal processing chain for radar-based multi-person detection, 2D-MUSIC localization and breathing frequency estimation. The proposed method shows promising results on a challenging emergency response dataset that we collected using a semi-autonomous robot equipped with a commercially available through-wall radar system. The dataset is composed of 62 scenarios of various difficulty levels with up to five persons captured in different postures, angles and ranges including wooden and stone obstacles that block the radar line of sight. Ground truth data for reference locations, respiration, electrocardiogram, and acceleration signals are included.
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Liebetruth M, Kehe K, Steinritz D, Sammito S. Systematic Literature Review Regarding Heart Rate and Respiratory Rate Measurement by Means of Radar Technology. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 24:1003. [PMID: 38339721 PMCID: PMC10857015 DOI: 10.3390/s24031003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
The use of radar technology for non-contact measurement of vital parameters is increasingly being examined in scientific studies. Based on a systematic literature search in the PubMed, German National Library, Austrian Library Network (Union Catalog), Swiss National Library and Common Library Network databases, the accuracy of heart rate and/or respiratory rate measurements by means of radar technology was analyzed. In 37% of the included studies on the measurement of the respiratory rate and in 48% of those on the measurement of the heart rate, the maximum deviation was 5%. For a tolerated deviation of 10%, the corresponding percentages were 85% and 87%, respectively. However, the quantitative comparability of the results available in the current literature is very limited due to a variety of variables. The elimination of the problem of confounding variables and the continuation of the tendency to focus on the algorithm applied will continue to constitute a central topic of radar-based vital parameter measurement. Promising fields of application of research can be found in particular in areas that require non-contact measurements. This includes infection events, emergency medicine, disaster situations and major catastrophic incidents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Liebetruth
- German Air Force Centre of Aerospace Medicine, 51147 Cologne, Germany
- Department of Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Kai Kehe
- Bundeswehr Medical Service Headquarter, Department A-VI Public Health, 56072 Koblenz, Germany
| | - Dirk Steinritz
- Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 80937 Munich, Germany
| | - Stefan Sammito
- German Air Force Centre of Aerospace Medicine, 51147 Cologne, Germany
- Department of Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
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Tak SH, Choi H, Lee D, Song YA, Park J. Nurses' Perceptions About Smart Beds in Hospitals. Comput Inform Nurs 2023; 41:394-401. [PMID: 36071665 PMCID: PMC10241421 DOI: 10.1097/cin.0000000000000949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' perceptions of the smart mattress equipped with Internet of things, which are incorporated into patients' beds. In addition, their concerns and suggestions about smart mattress were explored. A total of 349 nurses in a tertiary hospital participated in a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistical analysis was used for survey data, whereas content analysis was used for qualitative data from open-ended questions. The participants' intention to accept the smart mattresses was 12.5 (SD, 1.73) on average, indicating a high level of acceptance. The participants expected the smart mattresses to decrease their physical work burden, improve work efficiency, and prevent pressure ulcers. However, they were concerned about an increase in other aspects of their workload and in patient safety problems due to false alarms, inaccuracies, and malfunctions of the device. Nurses suggested various features that can be integrated into smart mattress. It is critical to address nurses' perceptions, expectations, and concerns during the conceptual and developmental stage of new technology in order to improve the usability, acceptance, and adoption of smart mattresses and other new innovations in hospital settings.
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Lorato I, Stuijk S, Meftah M, Kommers D, Andriessen P, van Pul C, de Haan G. Automatic Separation of Respiratory Flow from Motion in Thermal Videos for Infant Apnea Detection. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 21:6306. [PMID: 34577513 PMCID: PMC8472592 DOI: 10.3390/s21186306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Both Respiratory Flow (RF) and Respiratory Motion (RM) are visible in thermal recordings of infants. Monitoring these two signals usually requires landmark detection for the selection of a region of interest. Other approaches combine respiratory signals coming from both RF and RM, obtaining a Mixed Respiratory (MR) signal. The detection and classification of apneas, particularly common in preterm infants with low birth weight, would benefit from monitoring both RF and RM, or MR, signals. Therefore, we propose in this work an automatic RF pixel detector not based on facial/body landmarks. The method is based on the property of RF pixels in thermal videos, which are in areas with a smooth circular gradient. We defined 5 features combined with the use of a bank of Gabor filters that together allow selection of the RF pixels. The algorithm was tested on thermal recordings of 9 infants amounting to a total of 132 min acquired in a neonatal ward. On average the percentage of correctly identified RF pixels was 84%. Obstructive Apneas (OAs) were simulated as a proof of concept to prove the advantage in monitoring the RF signal compared to the MR signal. The sensitivity in the simulated OA detection improved for the RF signal reaching 73% against the 23% of the MR signal. Overall, the method yielded promising results, although the positioning and number of cameras used could be further optimized for optimal RF visibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilde Lorato
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands; (S.S.); (G.d.H.)
| | - Sander Stuijk
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands; (S.S.); (G.d.H.)
| | - Mohammed Meftah
- Department of Family Care Solutions, Philips Research, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
| | - Deedee Kommers
- Department of Neonatology, Máxima Medical Centre, 5504 DB Veldhoven, The Netherlands; (D.K.); (P.A.)
- Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
| | - Peter Andriessen
- Department of Neonatology, Máxima Medical Centre, 5504 DB Veldhoven, The Netherlands; (D.K.); (P.A.)
- Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
| | - Carola van Pul
- Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
- Department of Clinical Physics, Máxima Medical Centre, 5504 DB Veldhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Gerard de Haan
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands; (S.S.); (G.d.H.)
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Contactless analysis of heart rate variability during cold pressor test using radar interferometry and bidirectional LSTM networks. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3025. [PMID: 33542260 PMCID: PMC7862409 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81101-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Contactless measurement of heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects changes of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and provides crucial information on the health status of a person, would provide great benefits for both patients and doctors during prevention and aftercare. However, gold standard devices to record the HRV, such as the electrocardiograph, have the common disadvantage that they need permanent skin contact with the patient. Being connected to a monitoring device by cable reduces the mobility, comfort, and compliance by patients. Here, we present a contactless approach using a 24 GHz Six-Port-based radar system and an LSTM network for radar heart sound segmentation. The best scores are obtained using a two-layer bidirectional LSTM architecture. To verify the performance of the proposed system not only in a static measurement scenario but also during a dynamic change of HRV parameters, a stimulation of the ANS through a cold pressor test is integrated in the study design. A total of 638 minutes of data is gathered from 25 test subjects and is analysed extensively. High F-scores of over 95% are achieved for heartbeat detection. HRV indices such as HF norm are extracted with relative errors around 5%. Our proposed approach is capable to perform contactless and convenient HRV monitoring and is therefore suitable for long-term recordings in clinical environments and home-care scenarios.
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Chen M, Wang J, Anzai D, Fischer G, Kirchner J. Common-Mode Noise Reduction in Noncontact Biopotential Acquisition Circuit Based on Imbalance Cancellation of Electrode-Body Impedance. SENSORS 2020; 20:s20247140. [PMID: 33322141 PMCID: PMC7763498 DOI: 10.3390/s20247140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Biopotential sensing technology with electrodes has a great future in medical treatment and human—machine interface, whereas comfort and longevity are two significant problems during usage. Noncontact electrode is a promising alternative to achieve more comfortable and long term biopotential signal recordings than contact electrode. However, it could pick up a significantly higher level of common-mode (CM) noise, which is hardly solved with passive filtering. The impedance imbalance at the electrode-body interface is a limiting factor of this problem, which reduces the common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of the amplifier. In this work, we firstly present two novel CM noise reduction circuit designs. The circuit designs are based on electrode-body impedance imbalance cancellation. We perform circuit analysis and circuit simulations to explain the principles of the two circuits, both of which showed effectiveness in CM noise rejection. Secondly, we proposed a practical approach to detect and monitor the electrode-body impedance imbalance change. Compared with the conventional approach, it has certain advantages in interference immunity, and good linearity for capacitance. Lastly, we show experimental evaluation results on one of the designs we proposed. The results indicated the validity and feasibility of the approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minghui Chen
- Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan; (M.C.); (D.A.)
| | - Jianqing Wang
- Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan; (M.C.); (D.A.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Daisuke Anzai
- Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan; (M.C.); (D.A.)
| | - Georg Fischer
- Institute for Electronics Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (G.F.); (J.K.)
| | - Jens Kirchner
- Institute for Electronics Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; (G.F.); (J.K.)
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