The smart car seat: personalized monitoring of vital signs in automotive applications

Embedded wireless sensors are important components of mobile distributed computing networks, and one of the target applications areas is health care. The preservation of mobility for senior citizens is one of the key issues in maintaining an independent lifestyle. Thus health technologies inside a car can contribute both to safety issues (supervision of driver fitness) as well as healthcare issues by monitoring vitals signs imperceptibly. In this paper, three embedded measurement techniques for non-contact monitoring of vital signals have been investigated. Specifically, capacitive electrocardiogram (cECG) monitoring, mechanical movement analysis (ballistocardiogram, BCG) using piezo-foils and inductive impedance monitoring were examined regarding their potential for integration into car seats. All three sensing techniques omit the need for electroconductive contact to the human body, but require defined mechanical boundary conditions (stable distances or, in the case of BCG, frictional connection). The physical principles of operation, the specific boundary conditions regarding automotive integration and the results during wireless operation in a running car are presented. All three sensors were equipped with local intelligence by incorporating a microcontroller. To eliminate the need for additional cabling, a wireless Bluetooth communication module was added and used to transmit data to a measurement PC. Finally, preliminary results obtained during test drives on German city roads and highways are discussed.

[1]  W. Portnoy,et al.  Insulated electrocardiogram electrodes , 1972, Medical and biological engineering.

[2]  S. Leonhardt,et al.  Non-contact ECG monitoring for automotive application , 2008, 2008 5th International Summer School and Symposium on Medical Devices and Biosensors.

[3]  A. Akhbardeh,et al.  A Wireless Ballistocardiographic Chair , 2006, 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[4]  Ko Keun Kim,et al.  Common Mode Noise Cancellation for Electrically Non-Contact ECG Measurement System on a Chair , 2005, 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference.

[5]  Geert Langereis,et al.  Contactless sensors for Surface Electromyography , 2006, 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[6]  H. Lackner,et al.  Magnetic induction tomography: hardware for multi-frequency measurements in biological tissues. , 2001, Physiological measurement.

[7]  Chuan Yi Tang,et al.  A 2.|E|-Bit Distributed Algorithm for the Directed Euler Trail Problem , 1993, Inf. Process. Lett..

[8]  M. Ishijima.  Monitoring of electrocardiograms in bed without utilizing body surface electrodes , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[9]  Gerhard Tröster,et al.  Unobtrusive physiological monitoring in an airplane seat , 2009, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[10]  Ko Keun Kim,et al.  The ECG measurement in the bathtub using the insulated electrodes , 2004, The 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[11]  J. Bremont,et al.  Sensory features measurement of the under-thigh length of car seat , 1998, 1998 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems Proceedings. IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (Cat. No.98CH36228).

[12]  Nikolaos G. Bourbakis,et al.  A Survey on Wearable Sensor-Based Systems for Health Monitoring and Prognosis , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews).

[13]  T. D. Clark,et al.  An ultra-low-noise electrical-potential probe for human-body scanning , 2000 .

[14]  Akinori Ueno,et al.  An Application of Capacitive Electrode for Detecting Electrocardiogram of Neonates and Infants , 2006, 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[15]  Donald Y.C. Lie,et al.  A 2.4GHz non-contact biosensor system for continuous vital-signs monitoring , 2009, 2009 IEEE 10th Annual Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference.

[16]  Steffen Leonhardt,et al.  Magnetic and Capacitive Monitoring of Heart and Lung Activity as an Example for Personal Healthcare , 2006, 2006 3rd IEEE/EMBS International Summer School on Medical Devices and Biosensors.

[17]  T. D. Clark,et al.  Remote detection of human electroencephalograms using ultrahigh input impedance electric potential sensors , 2002 .

[18]  K. Park,et al.  The electrically noncontacting ECG measurement on the toilet seat using the capacitively-coupled insulated electrodes , 2004, The 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[19]  Armin Satz,et al.  Contactless seat occupation detection system based on electric field sensing , 2009, 2009 35th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics.

[20]  Yong Gyu Lim,et al.  ECG measurement on a chair without conductive contact , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[21]  R. Plonsey,et al.  Electrodeless measurements of the effective resistivity of the human torso and head by magnetic induction , 1969 .

[22]  A. Varri,et al.  A new method for measuring the ballistocardiogram using EMFi sensors in a normal chair , 2004, The 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[23]  John G. Webster,et al.  Driven-right-leg circuit design , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[24]  J. Geisheimer.  RVSM [Radar Vital Signs Monitor] , 1999 .

[25]  A. Richer,et al.  Eddy Current Based Flexible Sensor for Contactless Measurement of Breathing , 2005, 2005 IEEE Instrumentationand Measurement Technology Conference Proceedings.

[26]  L. Kirkup,et al.  A direct comparison of wet, dry and insulating bioelectric recording electrodes. , 2000, Physiological measurement.

[27]  Steffen Leonhardt,et al.  Ein kabelfreies, kapazitiv gekoppeltes EKG-Messsystem / Wireless ECG measurement system with capacitive coupling , 2007 .

[28]  A. Akhbardeh,et al.  The heart disease diagnosing system based on force sensitive chair's measurement, biorthogonal wavelets and neural networks , 2005, Proceedings, 2005 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics..

[29]  P. Savard,et al.  Contactless recording of cardiac related thoracic conductivity changes , 1995, Proceedings of 17th International Conference of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[30]  John G. Webster,et al.  Reductionl of Interference Due to Common Mode Voltage in Biopotential Amplifiers , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[31]  Changzhi Li,et al.  Software configurable 5.8 GHz radar sensor receiver chip in 0.13 µm CMOS for non-contact vital sign detection , 2009, 2009 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[32]  M Steffen,et al.  Mobile Noncontact Monitoring of Heart and Lung Activity , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[33]  Yong Gyu Lim,et al.  ECG Recording on a Bed During Sleep Without Direct Skin-Contact , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.