A Contactless Human Respiration Rate Measurement Using UWB Transversal Propagation Method

This paper proposes a transversal UWB propagation method with integrated inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors for respiration rate (RR) measurement. A custom designed platform based on the off-the-shelf UWB integrated circuit (DW1000) was used. The measurement method was developed following the assumption that the periodical changes in the lung volume during the inhale and exhale phases change the RF communication channel properties and modulate the observed received signal power. The experimental results showed that the proposed measurement method and implemented custom platform can capture reliably different breathing patterns, with an error rate within the estimated range of 10%. Taking into account that the UWB method captures not only lung motions but also the other organs, the results of varying the positions of transmitter and receiver yielded that the best places for placement of Rx and Tx UWB modules are diagonally or on the left side of the thoracic wall.