Contact-free Measurement of Heart Rate Variability via a Microwave Sensor

Sensors

Guohua Lu³  Fang Yang²  Yue Tian¹  Xijing Jing³ 

[1] Department of Medical Instruments, Xijing Hospitals, Xian, 710032, China; E-Mail:;Department of Experimental Teaching Centre, Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, 710032, China; E-Mail:;Department of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, 710032, China; E-Mails:

关键词: heart rate variability;    contact-free;    heartbeat;    microwave sensor;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s91209572

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are widely used to assess autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. HRV can be recorded via electrocardiography (ECG), which is both non-invasive and widely available. However, ECG needs three electrodes touching the body of the subjects, which makes them feel nervous and uncomfortable, thus potentially affecting the recording. Contact-free detection of the heartbeat via a microwave sensor constitutes another means of determining the timing of cardiac cycles by continuous monitoring of mechanical contraction of the heart. This technique can measure the heartbeat without any electrodes touching human body and penetrate the clothes at some distances, which in some instances may prove a practical basis for HRV analysis. Comparison of 5-minute recordings demonstrated that there were no significant differences in the temporal, frequency domains and in non-linear dynamic analysis of HRV measures derived from heartbeat and ECG, which suggested this technique may prove a practical alternative to ECG for HRV analysis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2009 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.