Low-Profile Textile Antenna for Bioradar Integration Into Car Seat Upholstery: Wireless acquisition of vital signs while on the road

Abstract

Recently, radar systems have been widely explored as a remote way to monitor vital signs. The potential of such technology may increase with the ability to be fully embedded in customized applications, providing a low-profile appearance. Thus, it is possible to streamline the industrialization process and simultaneously guarantee the comfort of the subject being monitored. In this work, the ability to fully integrate a bioradar system in a car seat, aiming to monitor the respiratory signal of the driver, is studied. For this purpose, textile antennas were developed to be embedded into the upholstery, using a new approach to wirelessly acquire vital signs by positioning the antennas in the side lumbar support of the car seat. Considering the final aspect of the prototype and its performance, alternative options for the antenna feeding were explored, and an electromagnetic insulation solution was implemented. Finally, the vital signs of six subjects were acquired with the final prototype. The obtained results were compared with certified measuring equipment, demonstrating the prototype effectiveness.