Hu Renjie, Gao Yu, Peng Guoying, Yang Hongyu, Zhang Jiajin
College of Big Data, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Dec 2;11:1495109. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1495109. eCollection 2024.
Monitoring the heart rate (HR) of pets is challenging when contact with a conscious pet is inconvenient, difficult, injurious, distressing, or dangerous for veterinarians or pet owners. However, few established, simple, and non-invasive techniques for HR measurement in pets exist.
To address this gap, we propose a novel, contactless approach for HR monitoring in pet dogs and cats, utilizing facial videos and imaging photoplethysmography (iPPG). This method involves recording a video of the pet's face and extracting the iPPG signal from the video data, offering a simple, non-invasive, and stress-free alternative to conventional HR monitoring techniques. We validated the accuracy of the proposed method by comparing it to electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings in a controlled laboratory setting.
Experimental results indicated that the average absolute errors between the reference ECG monitor and iPPG estimates were 2.94 beats per minute (BPM) for dogs and 3.33 BPM for cats under natural light, and 2.94 BPM for dogs and 2.33 BPM for cats under artificial light. These findings confirm the reliability and accuracy of our iPPG-based method for HR measurement in pets.
This approach can be applied to resting animals for real-time monitoring of their health and welfare status, which is of significant interest to both veterinarians and families seeking to improve care for their pets.
当与有意识的宠物接触对兽医或宠物主人来说不方便、困难、有害、令人痛苦或危险时，监测宠物的心率（HR）具有挑战性。然而，用于宠物心率测量的既定、简单且非侵入性的技术很少。
为了弥补这一差距，我们提出了一种新颖的非接触式方法，用于监测宠物狗和猫的心率，利用面部视频和成像光电容积脉搏波描记法（iPPG）。该方法包括记录宠物面部的视频，并从视频数据中提取iPPG信号，为传统心率监测技术提供了一种简单、非侵入性且无压力的替代方法。我们通过在受控实验室环境中将其与心电图（ECG）记录进行比较，验证了所提出方法的准确性。
实验结果表明，在自然光下，参考心电图监测器与iPPG估计值之间的平均绝对误差，狗为每分钟2.94次心跳（BPM），猫为3.33 BPM；在人造光下，狗为2.94 BPM，猫为2.33 BPM。这些发现证实了我们基于iPPG的宠物心率测量方法的可靠性和准确性。
这种方法可应用于休息的动物，以实时监测它们的健康和福利状况，这对兽医和寻求改善宠物护理的家庭都具有重要意义。
