Smart furniture using radar technology for cardiac health monitoring

The integration of radar technology into smart furniture represents a practical approach to health monitoring, circumventing the concerns regarding user convenience and privacy often encountered by conventional smart home systems. Radar technology's inherent non-contact methodology, privacy-preserving features, adaptability to diverse environmental conditions, and high precision characteristics collectively establish it a compelling alternative for comprehensive health monitoring within domestic environments. In this paper, we introduce a millimeter (mm)-wave radar system positioned strategically behind a seat, featuring an algorithm capable of identifying unique cardiac waveform patterns for healthy subjects. These patterns are characterized by two peaks followed by a valley in each cycle, which can be correlated to Electrocardiogram (ECG), enabling effective cardiac waveform monitoring. The provided algorithm excels in discerning variations in heart patterns, particularly in individuals with prolonged corrected QT intervals, by minimizing high frequency breathing interference and ensuring accurate pattern recognition. Additionally, this paper addresses the influence of body movements in seated individuals, conducting a comprehensive study on heart rate variability and estimation. Experiment results demonstrate a maximum interbeat intervals (IBI) error of 30 milliseconds and an average relative error of 4.8% in heart rate estimation, showcasing the efficacy of the proposed method utilizing variational mode decomposition and a multi-bin approach.