KR20160036967A - Method and Device for Measuring Biometric Data using UWB Radar - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a method for measuring biometric information by using a UWB radar and a device thereof. The method for measuring biometric information comprises the following steps of: analyzing a frequency component by using a reflection signal reflected from a biometric information measurement target person; eliminating a high frequency component with regard to the maximum peak value from the frequency component and detecting a plurality of peak values in a preset frequency range; and repeating the analyzing and detecting steps at a preset frequency to determine a heartrate by using at least one of a generation frequency and magnitude of a peak value in frequencies with regard to the detected peak values.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method and a device for measuring biometric information using a UWB radar,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring bio-information, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for measuring bio-information using a UWB radar.

UWB means radio technology with a frequency band of 500 MHz or higher, or a value defined as a non-bandwidth of 25% or higher. The non-bandwidth means the bandwidth of the signal versus the center frequency. In other words, UWB is a radio technology that uses broadband frequencies and has various advantages such as high distance resolution, transparency, strong immunity to narrowband noise, and coexistence with other devices sharing frequency.

The UWB (Ultra Wide Band) radar (IR-UWB) radar is a system that combines UWB technology with radar and transmits an impulse signal with a very short duration in the frequency domain Means a radar technology that receives signals coming back from objects and people and recognizes the surrounding situation.

The UWB radar system generates an impulse signal having a time width of several nanoseconds to several picoseconds in the signal generator and emits it at a wide angle or a narrow angle through a transmission antenna. The emitted signal is reflected by various objects or people in the environment, and the reflected signal is converted into a digital signal through the receiving antenna and the ADC.

Due to the advantages of the UWB radar described above, research is underway to utilize the UWB radar in many fields. Currently, research is underway to develop technologies in various fields such as medical devices for breathing and heart rate measurement, portable radar devices for rescue at the disaster site, and people counting devices for counting people in certain areas. For example, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2013-0020835 (published on Sep. 4, 2014) "UWB-based noncontact bio-signal diagnostic device" measures a bio-signal using UWB radar and uses the measured bio- A method of providing a remote health care service is disclosed.

However, since the degree of movement according to the heartbeat is significantly smaller than the movement according to the human breath, there are many difficulties in measuring the heart rate.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for measuring biometric information using a UWB radar.

Particularly, the present invention is for accurately measuring the heart rate of a person to be measured using a UWB radar.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring biological information, comprising: analyzing a frequency component using a reflection signal reflected from a subject to be measured; Repeating the analysis step a predetermined number of times to detect a plurality of peak values and removing a harmonic component with respect to a maximum peak value of the frequency components; And determining a heart rate using at least one of a frequency of occurrence of a peak value and a magnitude among a frequency of the peak value from which the harmonic component is removed.

The frequency for the maximum peak value is the number of breaths, and the frequency is the frequency per minute.

The step of removing the harmonic component may detect a plurality of peak values in a predetermined frequency range, and the predetermined frequency range is determined according to the heart rate of the subject to be measured.

The step of determining the heart rate determines the frequency corresponding to the maximum frequency and the maximum average magnitude as the heart rate.

The subject for biometric information measurement is in a fixed state.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a biometric information analyzing apparatus comprising: a frequency analyzer for analyzing a frequency component using a reflected signal reflected from a subject; A peak detector for detecting a plurality of peak values and eliminating a harmonic component with respect to a maximum peak value of the frequency components in a result of repeatedly performing a predetermined number of times; And a heart rate determining unit for determining a heart rate using at least one of a frequency of occurrence of a peak value and a magnitude among a frequency of the peak value from which the harmonic component is removed.

According to another aspect of the present invention,

Transmitting a radar signal to a subject for biometric information measurement in a fixed state; Receiving a reflected signal reflected from the subject to be measured; Analyzing a frequency component of the reflected signal; Detecting a frequency with respect to a maximum peak value among the frequency components as a number of breaths; And determining a frequency with respect to the maximum peak value as a heart rate, in a predetermined frequency range according to the heart rate.

Wherein the step of determining the maximum peak value as a heart rate includes excluding a harmonic component with respect to a maximum peak value corresponding to the respiratory rate and determining a frequency with respect to the maximum peak value as a heart rate.

According to the present invention, accuracy is improved by detecting a frequency component corresponding to a heart rate, excluding a harmonic component of a frequency component corresponding to a respiration rate of a subject.

According to the present invention, the accuracy is further improved by repeatedly measuring the subject and determining the heart rate using at least one of the occurrence frequency of the peak value and the magnitude among the frequencies with respect to the detected peak value.

1 is a view showing a frequency spectrum for explaining a method of measuring bio-information according to the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining a bio-information measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view for explaining a method of measuring bio-information according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing frequency and average magnitude of peak values repeatedly detected according to the bio-information measurement method described in FIG.
5 is a view for explaining a bio-information measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a frequency spectrum for explaining a method of measuring bio-information according to the present invention.

The respiration and the heartbeat cause minute movement to the subject to be measured and the present invention analyzes the movement using UWB radar to measure the respiration rate and the heartbeat rate Can be detected.

When a radar signal is transmitted to a subject to be measured with a UWB radar and a reflected signal is received from a person to be measured, the frequency component is analyzed. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, . A peak value may be generated at a specific frequency and a peak value may be generated by noise and harmonic components depending on the motion of the subject. At this time, it is preferable that the subject to be measured for biometric information is in a fixed state so that there is no other motion.

In the absence of periodic movements other than breathing and heartbeat movements, in general, the movement along the breath is greater than the movement along the heartbeat. Therefore, the frequency representing the maximum peak value in the frequency spectrum corresponds to the number of breaths. In FIG. 1, the respiratory rate corresponding to the maximum peak value is 22.3 per minute.

The movement along the heartbeat is relatively small, and heart rate detection is not easy due to the harmonic component of the frequency component due to breathing and noise. In particular, harmonic components are mixed with external noise and have significant magnitude values, which can be an obstacle to heart rate detection.

According to the present invention, in a predetermined frequency range, the frequency for the maximum peak value can be determined as the heart rate. Here, the frequency range can be set in consideration of a general heart rate of a person. A normal person's normal heart rate is 50 to 100 times per minute, and if the frequency range is set as such, the heart rate can be determined to be 66.7 minutes per minute, as shown in FIG.

Since the frequency for the maximum peak value is determined by the heart rate in a predetermined frequency range, the second harmonic of the frequency component due to respiration can be excluded from consideration of the heart rate. Of the frequencies corresponding to the third harmonic and the heart rate, the third harmonic can also be excluded from the heart rate subject. The third harmonic may be greater than the heart rate. Therefore, the present invention can determine the heart rate by excluding the harmonic component of the respiratory rate in advance.

In order to more accurately determine the heart rate, the present invention repeats the frequency components of the subject for bio-information measurement by repeating a predetermined number of times. For example, when the analysis is repeated five times, five pieces of frequency spectrum information as shown in FIG. 1 can be output. Then, a frequency component of a peak value is extracted for each frequency spectrum information, and a total of five candidate groups including frequency information about a peak value are made. In the candidate group, a peak value occurs at a certain frequency, It is possible to determine the heart rate of the subject to be measured by judging whether or not the subject has the magnitude.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

2 is a view for explaining a bio-information measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The biometric information measuring method according to the present invention can be performed in a biometric information measuring apparatus including a UWB radar.

Referring to FIG. 2, the apparatus for measuring bio-information according to the present invention transmits a UWB radar signal to a subject in a fixed state (S201). The UWB radar signal may be an impulse signal. The shorter the period of the pulse in the UWB radar, the more information can be included. According to the FCC definition, a pulse signal with a pulse width of only a few ns is generated and included in the UWB radar when the bandwidth exceeds 500 MHz or the bandwidth exceeds 20% of the center frequency.

Then, the bio-information measuring apparatus according to the present invention receives the reflected signal reflected from the subject to be measured (S203) and analyzes the frequency component of the reflected signal (S205). The frequency component can be performed through a Fourier transform.

The apparatus for measuring bio-information according to the present invention detects the frequency with respect to the maximum peak value among the frequency components analyzed (S207). As described above, the peak value occurring at a specific frequency can be confirmed according to the degree of motion of the subject to be measured through the frequency analysis. The movement by the subject in the fixed state of the bio-information measurement is greatest at the time of breathing, and therefore, the frequency with respect to the maximum peak value can be determined as the breathing number.

The apparatus for measuring bio-information according to the present invention determines a frequency with respect to a maximum peak value as a heart rate (S209) in a predetermined frequency range according to a heart rate. The frequency range can be varied depending on the situation. It is preferable to determine the maximum peak value in the predetermined frequency range as the heart rate, excluding the harmonic component with respect to the maximum peak value corresponding to the respiratory rate among the frequency components. That is, the harmonic components for the maximum peak value corresponding to the respiration rate are ignored, and the heart rate can be determined.

On the other hand, a magnitude larger than a peak value corresponding to the heart rate may occur in a predetermined frequency range due to the influence of external noise or the like. 3, a biometric information measuring method with improved accuracy is described.

3 is a view for explaining a method of measuring bio-information according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, a case in which a bio-information measuring apparatus for analyzing a signal received through a UWB radar is performed will be described as an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the apparatus for measuring bio-information according to the present invention analyzes a frequency component using a reflected signal reflected from a subject to be measured (S301). The reflected signal is a signal transmitted from the UWB radar reflected by the subject to be measured. As described above, it is preferable that the subject for biometric information measurement is in a fixed state.

Then, the bio-information measuring apparatus repeats step S301 a predetermined number of times to detect a plurality of peak values. At this time, a plurality of peak values can be detected within a preset frequency range. Then, the harmonic component with respect to the maximum peak value among the frequency components is removed or filtered (S303). Here, the predetermined frequency range may be set according to the expected heart rate of the subject to be measured or may be set according to the average heart rate of a general person. And the frequency for the maximum peak value can be determined by the number of breaths.

The bio-information measuring apparatus determines the heart rate using at least one of frequency of occurrence of the peak value and magnitude among the frequencies for the peak value from which the harmonic component is removed (S305). At this time, frequency and magnitude may be applied in various forms according to the algorithm to determine the heart rate.

For example, the bio-information measuring device can determine the frequency corresponding to the maximum frequency and the maximum average magnitude as the heart rate. That is, when the largest peak value occurs at a specific frequency and the maximum average magnitude at the frequency is the largest, the frequency can be determined as the heart rate.

As described above, when five candidate groups are generated by repeating five times, a peak value is detected within a predetermined frequency range. The heart rate of the subject to be measured can be determined by determining whether a peak value occurs at a certain frequency or a magnitude at which frequency is large by ignoring the harmonic component of the maximum peak value.

Alternatively, different weights may be given to the respective parameters, that is, the frequency and the magnitude, and the frequency corresponding to the maximum frequency and the maximum average magnitude may be determined as the heart rate. Or the maximum frequency at the first frequency may appear and the maximum magnitude at the second frequency may appear. Therefore, different weights are given to the frequency and the magnitude, and a frequency corresponding to the parameter having the maximum value among the weighted values is set as the heart rate You can decide. Or the maximum frequency, and when the frequency having the same maximum frequency is plural, the maximum magnitude may be further used to determine the heart rate.

3, a frequency analysis is repeatedly performed a predetermined number of times, a heart rate is determined in consideration of magnitudes at a frequency at which a plurality of detected peak values occur at a certain frequency, and a frequency at which a peak value occurs . Therefore, since the frequency component of magnitude larger than the peak value corresponding to the actual heart rate, which is caused by the influence of external noise or the like, can be removed, the heart rate can be measured more accurately.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a repetition frequency and a mean magnitude of peak values repeatedly detected according to the bio-information measurement method described in FIG.

In Figure 4, the horizontal axis represents frequency per minute and the vertical axis represents frequency and average magnitude. As shown in FIG. 4, the peak value occurs most frequently at a frequency of about 72.64 minutes, and the average magnitude at the frequency is the maximum. Therefore, the heart rate of the subject to be measured can be determined to be about 72.64.

As described above, according to the present invention, regardless of the harmonic component and the noise component of the frequency corresponding to the respiration rate, it is possible to determine whether a peak value occurs at a certain frequency by eliminating the harmonic component or by repeated measurement, By using at least one of the magnitudes, it is possible to provide an accurate heart rate of the subject for biometric information measurement.

5 is a view for explaining a bio-information measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the apparatus for measuring bio-information according to the present invention includes a frequency analysis unit 501, a peak detection unit 503, and a heart rate determination unit 505. The bio-information measuring device according to the present invention may be produced separately from the UWB radar, or may be produced and sold together with the UWB radar.

The frequency analyzer 501 analyzes the frequency component using the reflected signal reflected from the subject to be measured. The reflected signal is a signal transmitted from the UWB radar and reflected by the subject to be measured, and can be received by the UWB radar. The transmission signal of the UWB radar is a pulse signal radiated into a predetermined area and can be radiated through a UWB transmission antenna having high directivity. The reflected signal can be received through the ultra-wideband receiving antenna with high directivity.

The peak detector 503 detects a plurality of peak values and removes harmonic components with respect to the maximum peak value of the frequency components from a result of repeatedly analyzed by the frequency analyzer 501 a predetermined number of times. At this time, the peak detector 503 can detect a plurality of peak values in a predetermined frequency range, and the predetermined frequency range can be set according to the expected heart rate of the subject to be measured, The frequency can be determined by the number of breaths.

The heart rate determining unit 505 determines the heart rate using at least one of frequency of generation of the peak value and magnitude among the frequency of the peak value repeatedly detected a predetermined number of times. That is, the UWB radar signal may be radiated at intervals of a plurality of time slots, and the frequency analyzer 501 and the peak detector 503 may analyze the frequency component of the reflected signal for each time slot and detect the peak value. A peak value is extracted in each time slot, and among the frequencies with respect to the detected peak value, for example, a peak value is generated most or a frequency having a maximum average magnitude can be determined as a heart rate.

The above-described technical features may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the embodiments or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, such as specific elements, and specific embodiments and drawings. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above- And various modifications and changes may be made thereto by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described, and all of the equivalents or equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims, belong to the scope of the present invention .

Claims (9)

A biometric information measuring method using UWB radar,
Analyzing a frequency component using a reflected signal reflected from a subject to be measured;
Repeating the analysis step a predetermined number of times to detect a plurality of peak values in a predetermined frequency range, and removing a harmonic component with respect to a maximum peak value of the frequency components; And
Determining a heart rate using at least one of a frequency of occurrence of a peak value and a magnitude among frequencies for the peak value from which the harmonic component is removed;
Wherein the biometric information measurement method comprises the steps of:
The method according to claim 1,
The frequency for the maximum peak value is the number of breaths
Wherein the biometric information measurement method comprises the steps of:
3. The method of claim 2,
The frequency is the frequency per minute
Method of measuring biometric information.
The method according to claim 1,
The step of removing the harmonic component
Detecting a plurality of peak values in a predetermined frequency range,
The predetermined frequency range is
Is determined according to the heart rate of the subject to be measured
Method of measuring biometric information.
The method according to claim 1,
The step of determining the heart rate
The frequency corresponding to the maximum frequency and the maximum average magnitude is determined as the heart rate
Method of measuring biometric information.
The method according to claim 1,
The subject for biometric information measurement may be a fixed
Method of measuring biometric information.
A biometric information measuring apparatus using a UWB radar,
A frequency analyzer for analyzing a frequency component using a reflected signal reflected from a subject to be measured;
A peak detector for detecting a plurality of peak values and eliminating a harmonic component with respect to a maximum peak value of the frequency components in a result of repeatedly performing a predetermined number of times;
A heart rate determining unit for determining a heart rate using at least one of frequency of occurrence of a peak value and magnitude among frequencies for the peak value from which the harmonic component is removed,
And a biometric information measuring device.
A biometric information measuring method using UWB radar,
Transmitting a radar signal to a subject for biometric information measurement in a fixed state;
Receiving a reflected signal reflected from the subject to be measured;
Analyzing a frequency component of the reflected signal;
Detecting a frequency with respect to a maximum peak value among the frequency components as a number of breaths; And
Determining a frequency with respect to the maximum peak value as a heart rate in a predetermined frequency range according to the heart rate,
Wherein the biometric information measurement method comprises the steps of:
9. The method of claim 8,
The step of determining the maximum peak value as a heart rate
The frequency with respect to the maximum peak value is determined as the heart rate, excluding the harmonic component with respect to the maximum peak value corresponding to the breath count
Method of measuring biometric information.

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