Human Vital Sign Monitoring Using Modulated Scatterer-based Radar Technology

Abstract

The heart and respiration rates are among the most crucial physiological signals in the human body. Acquiring accurate measurements of these human vital signs in real-time is critical for the early detection and diagnosis of conditions that may affect the well-being of the patient. Conventional clinical methods of measuring these vital signs such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), pulse oximeter, and monitoring belts need the use of contact/wired sensors, which may not be practical for long-duration monitoring and less convenient for repeatable measurements. On the other hand, wireless vital signs measurements based on radars have the unique advantage of being non-contact, and hence, such methods do not constrain the movement of the patient. However, the clutter (noise) and the random body motion have been shown to be rather detrimental to the sensitivity of the radar systems developed thus for this application. In this thesis, a new remote monitoring technique for monitoring vital signs will be devised based on the modulated scatterer technique. The proposed technique is aimed at suppressing the effect of both clutter and random body movement. This thesis report outlines the significance and applicability of the research problem. Following that, an overview of the most recent, cutting-edge research that is pertinent to the suggested design is given. An overview of a half-wave dipole/wire scatterer and a numerical electromagnetic simulation showing different cases of the antenna/scatterer are detailed. The proposed antenna/scatterer design is described in detailed and simulated, as well as the improvement, optimization, and manufacturing of the design. Finally, thesis conclusions are given together with potential directions for further research on the thesis topic.

Date of Award	18 Dec 2023
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Mohammed Abou Khousa (Supervisor)