Abstract
In cases of natural disasters, epidemics or even in dangerous situations like an act of terrorism, battle fields, a shooting or a mountain accident, finding survivors is a challenge. In these kind of situations it is sometimes critical to know if a person has vital signs or not, without the need to be in contact with the victim, thus avoiding jeopardizing the lives of the rescue workers. In this work, we propose the use of video magnification techniques to detect small movements in human bodies due to breathing that are invisible to the naked eye. Two different video magnification techniques, intensity-based and phase-based, were tested. The utility of these techniques to detect people who are alive but injured in risk situations was verified by simulating a scene with three people involved in an accident. Several factors such as camera stability, distance to the object, light conditions, magnification factor or computing time were analyzed. The results obtained were quite positive for both techniques, intensity-based method proving more adequate if the interest is in almost instant results whereas the phase-based method is more appropriate if processing time is not so relevant but the degree of magnification without excessive image noise.
Highlights
In recent years, there have been many advances in computer science that have made possible the creation of novel systems with application in different fields such as medicine, archeology, industry or video games, inter alia
Our goal is to look for a fast and cheap method based on signal processing to reveal vital signs or imperceptible movements to the naked eye in injured people, by just processing a video of the scene
Since the main idea of this article is to magnify small movements that are not visible to the naked eye, it is crucial to ensure that the camera is not subject to any vibration or sudden movement, such as those produced by pressing the record button
Summary
There have been many advances in computer science that have made possible the creation of novel systems with application in different fields such as medicine, archeology, industry or video games, inter alia. In forensic medicine computer vision and close-range photogrammetry procedures allow to reconstruct the scene of a crime. In this context, some 3D image reconstruction systems have been recently developed for specific use in forensic medicine. Its developers concluded that this kind of technologies offer an objective multiresolution database, very useful for evidence analysis, performing police investigation or supporting legal medical studies. Another approach [2] consisted of a system using open source
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
