Exploration of using a pressure sensitive mat for respiration rate and heart rate estimation

Measuring the respiration and heart rate unobtrusively in home settings is an important goal for health monitoring. In this work, use of a pressure sensitive mat was explored. Two methods using body morphology information, based on shoulder blades and weighted centroid, were developed for respiration rate (RR) calculation. Heart rate (HR) was calculated by combining the frequency information from different body regions. Experimental data were collected from 15 participants in a supine position via a pressure sensitive mat placed under the upper torso. RR and HR estimations derived from accelerometer sensors attached to participants' bodies were used as references to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed methods. All three methods achieved a reasonable estimation compared to the reference. The root mean squared error of the proposed RR estimation methods were 1.32 and 0.87 breath/minute respectively, and the root mean squared error of the HR estimation method was 5.55 bpm.