“In Bed” BCG Signal Analysis

Abstract

Sleep is an important phase of a person’s life, to which a significant percentage of the day is dedicated. Sleep is a key moment of the day that significantly affects the well-being of our body, so a reduction in sleep often determines serious repercussions on the quality of life and health in general. It is therefore of interest to proceed with an assessment of the physiological parameters of a person during the hours dedicated to sleep. The present work illustrates an experimental activity of extraction of vital parameters of a subject during his stay in bed, based on the elaboration of the BallistoCardioGraphic (BCG) signal. It is shown how the values of heart and respiratory rate can be obtained, and how useful information can be obtained to investigate sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnoea, bruxism, restless leg syndrome, night epilepsy, sleepwalking and narcolepsy.