Periodicity-Driven Millimeter Wave Radar Framework for Robust Non-Contact Heart Rate Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing
• Radar Technology

Background:

• Millimeter wave radar offers a contactless alternative to wearable sensors for vital sign monitoring.
• Accurate heart rate (HR) monitoring using radar is challenged by weak heartbeat signals and noise interference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an innovative periodicity-driven framework for accurate contactless HR monitoring.
• To address the limitations of existing radar-based HR monitoring methods.

Main Methods:

• Extracting heartbeat signals using a second-order differentiator.
• Localizing cardiac signals by exploiting their inherent periodicity.
• Estimating heartbeat timing through template matching techniques.

Main Results:

• Achieved a mean HR estimation error of 0.60 bpm.
• Obtained a median interbeat interval (IBI) error of 2.58 ms.
• Demonstrated accuracy and robustness in typical office environments with 10 subjects.

Conclusions:

• The proposed periodicity-driven framework significantly enhances contactless HR monitoring accuracy.
• The method shows strong potential for future healthcare applications requiring non-invasive vital sign tracking.