Improved UWB Radar Signal Processing for the Extraction of Vital Parameters

Abstract

The availability of contactless sensors capable of detecting vital parameters is of particular interest, especially when it is requested to ensure the patient’s freedom of movement, or when the patient’s physical conditions do not allow the application of sensing devices on the skin. Thanks to its characteristics of high spatial resolution and tissues penetration, an Ultra Wide Band radar system can be used for the measurement of respiratory and heart rates of hospitalized patients. As typical of radar systems, however, the useful echo is superimposed to a multiplicity of unwanted echoes, due to reflection by obstacles, normally fixed, that may be present in the environment considered. Among the various techniques proposed in the literature, this work presents an enhanced processing of the signal received by an Ultra Wide Band radar, in the presence of static echoes, the magnitude of which may be also considerably higher than the level of the signals reflected by the target. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed processing method, and its sensitivity to the radar system design parameters.