A New Paradigm for Non-contact Vitals Monitoring using Visible Light Sensing

Typical techniques for tracking vital signs require body contact and most of these techniques are intrusive in nature. Body-contact methods might irritate the patient’s skin and he/she might feel uncomfortable while sensors are touching his/her body. In this study, we present a new wireless (non-contact) method for monitoring human vital signs (breathing and heartbeat). We have demonstrated for the first time1 that vitals signs can be measured wirelessly through visible light signal reflected from a human subject, also referred to as visible light sensing (VLS). In this method, the breathing and heartbeat rates are measured without any body-contact device, using only a simple photodetector and a light source (e.g., LED). The light signal reflected from human subject is modulated by the physical motions during breathing and heartbeats. Signal processing tools such as filtering and Fourier transform are used to convert these small variations in the received light signal power to vitals data.We implemented the VLS-based non-contact vital signs monitoring system by using an off-the-shelf light source, a photodetector and a signal acquisition and processing unit. We observed more than 94% of accuracy as compared to a contact-based FDA (The Food and Drug Administration) approved devices. Additional evaluations are planned to assess the performance of the developed vitals monitoring system, e.g., different subjects, environments, etc. Non-contact vitals monitoring system can be used in various areas and scenarios such as medical facilities, residential homes, security and human-computer-interaction (HCI) applications.