Hari Arnav, Kumar Ravishankar, Kumbhani Brijesh, Darshi Sam, Agarwal Satyam, Sahambi Jyotindra Singh, Jain Suksham, Chawla Deepak
Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, India.
Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Feb 25;14:e59532. doi: 10.2196/59532.
Contactless monitoring of vital signs, especially the breathing of children, in the hospital is performed on a priority basis because their organs and immune system are immature. Therefore, continuous monitoring of their vital signs with a sensor that is directly attached to their body is not possible, as it irritates the sensitive newborn skin and causes discomfort. A contactless frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar-based device can wirelessly monitor the breathing rate and pattern of a child in the hospital or at home. Signal-processing capability can be added to this device to process breathing data and analyze the apnea condition arising due to irregular breathing patterns.
This study will develop a contactless FMCW radar-based system to accurately monitor the breathing rate and pattern of neonates and infants in hospitals and at home in order to provide a noninvasive, nonintrusive and contactless alternative to conventional sensor-based methods and address a critical need in neonatal care, potentially improving health outcomes for vulnerable infants.
The radar transmits a signal toward the body, and the time taken by the signal received to travel from the body to the receiving antenna is analyzed. This time is proportional to the distance between the radar and the body, and the breathing pattern is recognized as a slight, periodic variation in this distance. We will use this concept with multiple antenna systems to monitor the breathing of neonates with improved sensitivity. The radar-based device will be installed, in addition to conventional breathing monitors, in the neonatal intensive care unit. The signals received at the radar and the respiration signals from conventional monitors will be recorded in a database. Signal-processing techniques will be applied to extract breathing signals from the signals received at the radar.
This study was funded in January 2023 by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of India. The device was designed by May 2024, and a working proof-of concept was verified in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar laboratory. Implementation of the proposed method for initial study began in December 2024. Results are expected to be published in the first quarter of 2025.
The contactless FMCW radar-based system will provide reliable estimation of the breathing rate and pattern, which is close to the conventional reference device values most of the time. Our device will also provide a seamless breathing-monitoring system to be used both in hospitals and at home for newborns and premature babies until they are fully healthy and fit.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/59532.
在医院对生命体征进行非接触式监测，尤其是对儿童呼吸的监测，是优先开展的工作，因为儿童的器官和免疫系统尚未发育成熟。因此，无法使用直接附着在他们身体上的传感器对其生命体征进行持续监测，因为这会刺激新生儿敏感的皮肤并导致不适。基于非接触式调频连续波（FMCW）雷达的设备可以无线监测医院或家中儿童的呼吸频率和模式。可以给该设备添加信号处理功能，以处理呼吸数据并分析因不规则呼吸模式引起的呼吸暂停情况。
本研究将开发一种基于非接触式FMCW雷达的系统，以准确监测医院和家中新生儿和婴儿的呼吸频率和模式，从而为传统的基于传感器的方法提供一种无创、非侵入性和非接触式的替代方案，并满足新生儿护理中的一项关键需求，有可能改善脆弱婴儿的健康状况。
雷达向身体发射信号，并分析接收到的信号从身体传播到接收天线所花费的时间。这个时间与雷达和身体之间的距离成正比，呼吸模式被识别为这个距离的轻微周期性变化。我们将把这个概念应用于多天线系统，以提高对新生儿呼吸监测的灵敏度。除了传统的呼吸监测器外，基于雷达的设备将安装在新生儿重症监护病房。雷达接收到的信号和传统监测器的呼吸信号将被记录在数据库中。将应用信号处理技术从雷达接收到的信号中提取呼吸信号。
本研究于2023年1月获得印度科学与工程研究委员会（SERB）的资助。该设备于2024年5月设计完成，并在印度理工学院（IIT）罗帕尔实验室验证了可行的概念验证。2024年12月开始实施拟议方法的初步研究。预计结果将于2025年第一季度发表。
基于非接触式FMCW雷达的系统将提供可靠的呼吸频率和模式估计，大多数时候接近传统参考设备的值。我们的设备还将提供一个无缝的呼吸监测系统，可用于医院和家中的新生儿和早产儿，直到他们完全健康。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/59532。
