PhysioCam: A Noncontact System to Monitor Physiological Responses From a Distance
Abstract
Major Goals: Prototype a noncontact physiological monitoring system based on a COTS high quality digital video camera to monitor physiological activity from the human face. The PhysioCam will measure heart rate, breathing, and vasomotor activity with the accuracy and precision equivalent to contact measures. Physiological measures detected by the PhysioCam will be quantified in either real-time or offline modes. Unlike previous attempts to develop noncontact video based system, the PhysioCam will be designed from knowledge of the wavelengths of physiological processes. The prototype of the PhysioCam will be portable and inexpensively duplicated. The PhysioCam will consist of COTS hardware weighing approximately 15 kg; if implemented with a laptop the weight could be about 5 kg. Due to the availability of low cost COTS hardware, duplication costs would be approximately $6,500. Accomplishments: The PhysioCam system is a noncontact technology that measures beat-to-beat heart rate with sufficient accuracy to monitor features of heart rate variability (HRV). The PhysioCam takes a unique approach to the standoff measurement of human arterial pulse via visible light imaging of a subjects face. The PhysioCamgenerates the pulse wave in real-time; the generated signal represents the beat-to-beat pattern from which heart rate variability (HRV) parameters and respiration rate can be measured. Real time analyses with only a few milliseconds delay due to data processing. Therefore, the system could be reduced to a single processor that would not require access to large blocks of memory to derive a signal (i.e., each frame can be processed and then discarded). The methods used were refined off-line and then implemented into the state-of-the-art PhysioCam software that functions in real-time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 16, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1076263
Entities
People
- Stephen W. Porges
Organizations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill