Different Antenna Designs for Non-Contact Vital Signs Measurement: A Review

• Main Authors: Carolina Gouveia, Caroline Loss, Pedro Pinho, José Vieira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
• Series: Electronics
• Subjects: antennas; radar; vital-signs; cw; uwb
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/8/11/1294

Cardiopulmonary activity measured through contactless means is a hot topic within the research community. The Doppler radar is an approach often used to acquire vital signs in real time and to further estimate their rates, in a remote way and without requiring direct contact with subjects. Many solutions have been proposed in the literature, using different transceivers and operation modes. Nonetheless, all different strategies have a common goal: enhance the system efficiency, reduce the manufacturing cost, and minimize the overall size of the system. Antennas are a key component for these systems since they can influence the radar robustness directly. Therefore, antennas must be designed with care, facing several trade-offs to meet all the system requirements. In this sense, it is necessary to define the proper guidelines that need to be followed in the antenna design. In this manuscript, an extensive review on different antenna designs for non-contact vital signals measurements is presented. It is intended to point out and quantify which parameters are crucial for the optimal radar operation, for non-contact vital signs’ acquisition.