Doppler radar remote sensing of respiratory function

Doppler radar remote sensing of torso kinematics can provide an indirect measure of cardiopulmonary function. Motion at the human body surface due to heart and lung activity has been successfully used to characterize such measures as respiratory rate and depth, obstructive sleep apnea, and even the identity of an individual subject. For a sedentary subject, Doppler radar can track the periodic motion of the portion of the body moving as a result of the respiratory cycle as distinct from other extraneous motions that may occur, to provide a spatial temporal displacement pattern that can be combined with a mathematical model to indirectly assess quantities such as tidal volume, and paradoxical breathing. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that even healthy respiratory function results in distinct motion patterns between individuals that vary as a function of relative time and depth measures over the body surface during the inhalation/exhalation cycle. Potentially, the biomechanics that results in different measurements between individuals can be further exploited to recognize pathology related to lung ventilation heterogeneity and other respiratory diagnostics

Phase Correlation Single Channel Continuous Wave Doppler Radar Recognition of Multiple Sources

Continuous-wave Doppler radar (CWDR) can be used to remotely detect physiological parameters, such as respiration and heart signals. However, detecting and separating multiple targets remains a challenging task for CWDR. While complex transceiver architectures and advanced signal processing algorithms have been demonstrated as effective for multiple target separations in some scenarios, the separation of equidistant sources within a single antenna beam remains a challenge. This paper presents an alternative phase tuning approach that exploits the diversity among target distances and physiological parameters for multi-target detection. The design utilizes a voltage-controlled analog phase shifter to manipulate the phase correlation of the CWDR and thus create different signal mixtures from the multiple targets, then separates them in the frequency domain by suppressing individual signals sequentially. We implemented the phase correlation system based on a 2.4 GHz single-channel CWDR and evaluated it against multiple mechanical and human targets. The experimental results demonstrated successful separation of nearly equidistant targets within an antenna beam, equivalent to separating physiological signals of two people seated shoulder to shoulder

Radar-Based Non-Contact Continuous Identity Authentication

Non-contact vital signs monitoring using microwave Doppler radar has shown great promise in healthcare applications. Recently, this unobtrusive form of physiological sensing has also been gaining attention for its potential for continuous identity authentication, which can reduce the vulnerability of traditional one-pass validation authentication systems. Physiological Doppler radar is an attractive approach for continuous identity authentication as it requires neither contact nor line-of-sight and does not give rise to privacy concerns associated with video imaging. This paper presents a review of recent advances in radar-based identity authentication systems. It includes an evaluation of the applicability of different research efforts in authentication using respiratory patterns and heart-based dynamics. It also identifies aspects of future research required to address remaining challenges in applying unobtrusive respiration-based or heart-based identity authentication to practical systems. With the advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence, radar-based continuous authentication can grow to serve a wide range of valuable functions in society