Heart rate monitoring using infrared thermometry in an earpiece

Heart rate is a key factor in cardiovascular system monitoring and sports science. Some recent commercial applications use sensors in the ear but are faced with motion artifacts which corrupts the signal. Infrared thermography is a non-contact technique and may minimize motion effects with better user comfort and lower power consumption. We propose a novel system that uses infrared differential thermometry to detect the heart rate in the auricle. The signal analysis is performed using a continuous wavelet transform which extract frequency features of the bioheat transfer waveforms. Preliminary results taken from the neck provide proof of concept and similar results from the ear are expected.