Noninvasive heartbeat extraction from IR UWB radar signals

Modern society faces problems of increasing healthcare expenditure due to increases in numbers of chronic patients and an aging population. As so-called smart patients become proactive, they require individualized treatment and interactive care. A type of healthcare using ICT (Information & Communication Technology) is gaining interest as the best technological alternative for solving those problems. At DGIST, ICT-medical convergence technologies suitable for pervasive sensing and advanced healthcare services are under development. Impulse radio ultra-wideband complementary metal-oxide silicon (IR UWB CMOS) radar technology is considered a good candidate for sensing features of the human body. In this paper, a novel method that detects vital signals such as respiratory rate and heart rate using IR UWB radar is proposed and the feasibility of it being an appropriate technology for non-invasive biometric sensing is presented.