Enhancement of Remote Vital Sign Monitoring Detection Accuracy Using Multiple-Input Multiple-Output 77 GHz FMCW Radar

Abstract

Remote non-contact monitoring of human vital signs has recently received lots of attention due to the advancement and availability of millimeter wave (mmWave) radars. These sensors are significantly reduced in size, but still face serious electromagnetic (EM) propagation loss and signal obstructions resulting in lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). As mmWave received signals also have higher sensitivity to body motions, these effects typically degrade the accuracy of heart rate (HR) detection. To overcome this challenge, MIMO configuration can be used to improve the SNR level by taking advantage of its channel diversity. We use here a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar from Texas Instruments (TI) at 77 GHz to collect data from 192 channels. Additionally, vital sign information is extracted using Arctangent Demodulation (AD) and Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) combined with an adapted-wavelet Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) are utilized to demonstrate improvement of HR estimation accuracy.