Ultra-Wideband Respiratory Monitoring System

In this paper, we present a method for respiratory monitoring which uses UWB signaling to detect the displacement of a human chest. Compared to other techniques that use more narrowband sources, UWB signaling offers several unique advantages, including improved resolution ability, no need for direct skin contact, lower cost and lower power consumption, among others. We present a system setup, discuss a model of the human thorax, and focus on signal processing steps used at the receiver. In particular, we present a high-resolution frequency domain approach to detecting respiratory movements. Some of the techniques we use have been already encountered in the spectral estimation framework, allowing for a relatively simple hardware implementation and sub-Nyquist sampling rates. We also present numerical studies based on the frequency-dependent finite-difference time-domain method, illustrating the efficiency of the proposed method in respiratory monitoring. Our scheme can be used in a variety of medical applications, such as preventive medicine in home health care and intensive care units.