A Robust Dynamic Heart-Rate Detection Algorithm Framework During Intense Physical Activities Using Photoplethysmographic Signals

Dynamic accurate heart-rate (HR) estimation using a photoplethysmogram (PPG) during intense physical activities is always challenging due to corruption by motion artifacts (MAs). It is difficult to reconstruct a clean signal and extract HR from contaminated PPG. This paper proposes a robust HR-estimation algorithm framework that uses one-channel PPG and tri-axis acceleration data to reconstruct the PPG and calculate the HR based on features of the PPG and spectral analysis. Firstly, the signal is judged by the presence of MAs. Then, the spectral peaks corresponding to acceleration data are filtered from the periodogram of the PPG when MAs exist. Different signal-processing methods are applied based on the amount of remaining PPG spectral peaks. The main MA-removal algorithm (NFEEMD) includes the repeated single-notch filter and ensemble empirical mode decomposition. Finally, HR calibration is designed to ensure the accuracy of HR tracking. The NFEEMD algorithm was performed on the 23 datasets from the 2015 IEEE Signal Processing Cup Database. The average estimation errors were 1.12 BPM (12 training datasets), 2.63 BPM (10 testing datasets) and 1.87 BPM (all 23 datasets), respectively. The Pearson correlation was 0.992. The experiment results illustrate that the proposed algorithm is not only suitable for HR estimation during continuous activities, like slow running (13 training datasets), but also for intense physical activities with acceleration, like arm exercise (10 testing datasets)

Frequency-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy for cardiovascular and respiratory applications

Frequency Domain Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy (FD-DOS) is an emerging optical technique that uses near infrared light to probe the hemodynamics of biological tissue. Compared to more common Continuous Wave (CW) methods, FD-DOS uses light that is temporally modulated on the order of MHz to quantify the absorption and scattering of tissue. FD-DOS can also be used to obtain absolute concentration of tissue chromophores such as oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin, which allow for quantitative measurements of tissue hemodynamics. This dissertation focuses on the evolution of our lab’s custom digital FD-DOS as a platform for taking optical measurement of biological tissue for respiratory and cardiovascular applications. Several important instrumentation improvements will be reviewed that have enhanced the performance of the system while making it more portable and clinic ready. Two translational applications will be described in detail: 1) the use of high-speed FD-DOS for the non-invasive extraction of venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) and 2) the use of FD-DOS to monitor the hemodynamics of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle towards the non-invasive monitoring of patients on mechanical ventilation. The custom FD-DOS system parameters were adjusted for each application, with a focus on high speed to extract the cardiac signal for the SvO2 project, and a focus on high SNR to measure the highly absorbing SCM. Measurements on healthy volunteers and rabbits were used to assess the feasibility of using FD-DOS for these applications. Finally, preliminary work was conducted to characterize a miniature FD-DOS source and detector with the goal of moving towards a wearable version of FD-DOS.2022-05-15T00:00:00