Wireless Stress Monitoring via Physiological Signal Reflections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stress monitoring technologies are obtrusive, requiring user participation or contact with the body, which is inconvenient and uncomfortable, especially for long-term use, and often lack accuracy due to environmental constraints and user movement.
Innovation Solution
A passive stress monitoring system that uses wireless signals, such as millimeter-wave radar, to detect heartbeats and respiratory patterns without user contact, employing a novel machine learning pipeline to extract HRV and motion features from wireless reflections, allowing continuous monitoring in various environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If contact-based wearables (chest bands, skin-attachable sensors) are used to monitor stress, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to discomfort and user burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces contact-based mechanical sensing systems with a wireless signal-based system. Instead of using chest bands or skin-attachable sensors that physically contact the user, the system uses wireless signals (e.g., radio waves) to detect physiological parameters such as heart rate variability and respiratory rate, thereby eliminating the need for physical contact while maintaining measurement accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wireless signals as an intermediary medium to transfer information between the user's body and the monitoring system. The wireless signals reflect off the user's body and carry information about physiological parameters, allowing the system to measure stress without direct physical contact or user-worn devices
2Ease of operation
If self-reporting methods are used for stress monitoring, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to subjectivity and user burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to automatically measure and monitor stress parameters without requiring user action or participation. The wireless monitoring system continuously tracks physiological indicators such as heart rate variability and respiratory rate, eliminating the need for users to manually report their stress levels while providing objective, accurate measurements
3Ease of operation
If wireless signal-based monitoring is used, then ease of operation is improved by allowing user movement, but measurement precision may deteriorate due to signal interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the wireless monitoring system to dynamically adapt to user movement. The system continuously tracks physiological parameters while users move freely, using algorithms to distinguish between signal variations caused by movement and those caused by physiological changes, thereby maintaining measurement accuracy despite user mobility
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
Accurately classifies stress levels with high accuracy (90.7% for the same person and 84% in new environments) while users are free to move, providing a seamless and privacy-friendly solution for long-term stress monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
measuring reflections of the wireless signal to generate a physiological signal responsive to changes in distance between the subject and the sensor over time
Data Source
AI summary
According to one aspect of the disclosure, a method for measuring stress of a subject includes: transmitting, by a sensor, a wireless signal within an environment comprising the subject: measuring reflections of the wireless signal to generate a physiological signal responsive to changes in distance between the subject and the sensor over time: processing the physiological signal to extract feature data of the subject; and providing the feature data as input to a stress classification network to determine a stress level of the subject.