SmartBed (Ballistocardiography)
Fig. 1: Prinziple of the Ballistocardiography.
Fig. 2: Examples for monitoring of herat- and breathing activity.
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Project description
A ballistocardiogram (BCG) is a recording of body movements which are caused by the mechanical activity of the heart. Modern BCG systems can be integrated into beds in ways which make their presence unnoticeable to the user. In addition to the activity of the heart, breathing and limb movements can also be recorded by the same single sensor. Hence, this approach is particularly suited for contact-less monitoring of heart and breathing rate during sleep.
In contrast to ECG or PCG systems, no direct contact between the subject and the sensor is necessary. Therefore, the daily routine and the sleep quality of the user is unaffacted, while at the same time, long-term and short-term trends of vital parameters can be observed.
During this project the following challenges are relevant:
- Signal separation (heart - lung - other body movements)
- Extraction of vital parameters from highly variable signals
- Detection and compensation of unwanted body motion artifacts
Project goals
- Development of algorithms for the automatic extraction of vital parameters from ballistocardiograms.
- Analysis and development of advanced applications based on the extracted parameters (for example sleep staging).