Sonar Vital Monitoring via Acoustic Reflection and Sensor Fusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contactless monitoring systems struggle to efficiently and accurately monitor vital and environmental conditions of subjects in real-time, especially during rest, sleep, or other low-activity states, without the need for physical contact.
Innovation Solution
A sonar-based contactless monitoring system that uses a microphone and speaker to transmit and detect acoustic waves, allowing for the collection of measurement data related to vital signs and environmental conditions. This system includes a controller that processes the data to calculate posture and activity, and switches between non-contact and contact sensors as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If contactless sonar monitoring is used to avoid physical contact, then ease of operation and hygiene are improved, but measurement precision and reliability of vital sign detection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines multiple sensing modalities including contactless sonar for respiratory rate and heart rate detection, contactless temperature sensing via thermal camera, and contact-based sensors for ECG and SpO2 measurement. This multi-sensor fusion approach allows the system to maintain contactless operation for basic monitoring while achieving high measurement precision through contact-based verification when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between contactless and contact-based monitoring modes based on the operational context. During normal sleep monitoring, it uses contactless sonar and thermal sensing. When higher precision is required or contactless detection confidence is low, it automatically activates contact-based sensors such as ECG electrodes and pulse oximeter to supplement or verify measurements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sensors are integrated to monitor multiple parameters, then measurement comprehensiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a universal processing platform that can handle data from multiple different sensor types including sonar microphones, thermal cameras, ECG electrodes, pulse oximeters, and motion sensors. The controller is designed to process and integrate data from any of these sensor types, allowing the system to monitor multiple parameters (respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature, SpO2, movement) without requiring separate dedicated processing circuits for each sensor type.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system is segmented into independent sensor modules, each responsible for a specific function (sonar module for respiratory/heart rate, thermal module for temperature, ECG module for cardiac activity, SpO2 module for oxygen saturation). This modular architecture allows each sensor to be optimized independently while simplifying integration through standardized communication interfaces and a centralized controller that coordinates all modules.
3Ease of operation
If contactless sonar is used for monitoring, then user comfort is improved, but detection accuracy for subtle movements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges contactless sonar detection with contact-based motion sensors to detect subtle movements. The sonar provides continuous contactless monitoring of gross movements and vital signs, while contact-based accelerometers or motion sensors supplement detection of finer movements that may be below the detection threshold of contactless methods alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses signal processing algorithms as an intermediary to enhance the detection capability of contactless sonar. Advanced signal processing techniques including noise filtering, signal enhancement, and pattern recognition are applied to the raw sonar data to extract subtle movement information that would otherwise be lost in background noise, thereby improving detection accuracy without requiring physical contact.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time monitoring of vital and environmental conditions with high accuracy, allowing for continuous health and physiological status tracking, as well as environmental condition monitoring, without the need for physical contact. The system can also detect intrusion and differentiate between humans and animals.
Implementation Method 1
the disclosed contactless system transforms the phone into an active sonar system, wherein 18-20 kHz sound waves are transmitted from the phone speaker and their reflections detected with the microphone
Implementation Method 2
18-20 kHz sound waves are transmitted from the phone speaker and their reflections detected with the microphone
Data Source
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AI summary
A sonar-based contactless monitoring system comprises a sonar system (308), a contactless sensing assembly (310), and a controller (302) configured to read out measurements transmitted by the sonar system and the contactless sensing assembly and calculate posture and activity of a subject. The sonar system may include a microphone (314) and a speaker (316), wherein the microphone is configured to sense a first acoustic signal in a frequency range associated with the sound and/or motion made by the subject, and a second acoustic signal in a frequency range associated with the reflection of an acoustic signal transmitted by the speaker. The contactless sensing assembly senses at least one of vital and environmental conditions, such as a heart rate, respiratory rate, activity, snoring, subject's position, and subject's movement, or noise level, weather condition, light exposure, time and radiation level.