I-Corps: Microwave Stethoscope for Monitoring Vital Signs and Changes in Lung Water Content

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of the proposed work is to develop a low-cost and wireless enabled 'Microwave Stethoscope' system that can continuously monitor human vital signs from a single reflection coefficient measurement. These vital signs include the heart rate, breathing rate, stroke volume, and more importantly the changes in lung water content which is unique to our sensor. The system is based on the use of a single miniaturized microwave sensor placed on the patient chest for reflection coefficient measurements. This broadband microwave sensor is attached to the body in a similar fashion to an EKG lead. The measured reflection coefficient (specifically the phase) exhibits changes due to respiration, hearbeat, and the changes in the lung water content. These vital signs are extracted by a novel digital signal processing algorithm providing multiple vital signs through a single measurement such as heart rate, respiration rate, EKG like heart waveform, and changes in the lung water content. Healthcare is, and remains, a pressing challenge facing our nation in the 21st century. The diminishing ratio of the primary care physicians to the population, and the increasing requirements of the aging population are the driving forces for the home and patient centered delivery of healthcare approach. Successful completion of this project could provide a single low-cost and non-invasive sensor that can continuously monitor multiple vital signs, hence, enable improving healthcare in remote and under privileged communities, and in supporting a variety of in-field and emergency military applications. The developed hardware platform can be an investigative tool for further illness diagnosis. This project could enable use of millimeter wave integrated circuits for high accuracy monitoring of human health, and provides a new diagnosis tool to a wide array of medical doctors including epidemiologists, pediatricians, and family physicians. Typical MDs who would be interested in this technology include those who work in pulmonary and respiratory, burn and ICU units. It has the potential to help improve healthcare in remote and under privileged communities in the US and perhaps beyond.