The Fundamental Limits of Light-Wave Sensing for Non-Contact Respiration Monitoring

Abstract: An experimental testbed has been constructed to assess the capabilities of Light-Wave Sensing, a promising new vitals monitoring approach. A Light-Wave Sensing apparatus utilizes infrared radiation to contactlessly monitor the subtle respiratory motions of a subject from meters away. A respiration-simulating robot was programmed to produce controllable, humanlike chest displacement patterns for accuracy analysis. Estimation of respiration rate within tenths of a breath per minute has been demonstrated with the testbed, establishing the tenability of the method for use in commercial non-contact respiration monitoring equipment, and setting practical expectations on the usable range of this sensing modality. An analytical model is then presented to guide hardware selection, and used to derive the absolute range limitations of Light-Wave Sensing.