Sensing human physiological motion using millimeter wave radar.

For the past 100 years, radio detection and ranging technology, or radar, has been developed to detect the presence and motion of a wide array of objects, vehicles, and living beings. With the advent of small-scale, portable, affordable radar sensors, biological radar sensing has opened a new field of opportunity for healthcare applications such as vital signs detection, fall detection, and gait analysis. Telehealth technology is becoming a popular method to replace in-person office consultations for simple medical visits, reducing costs significantly. However, telehealth communication currently lacks the sensors required to provide the clinician a direct line of information about the patient’s physical condition. Radar can measure a variety of physiological motions for basic health checkups and become another diagnostic tool in the doctor’s arsenal. Furthermore, radar can act as a preventive safety device by detecting human drowsiness or distraction. This dissertation details the procedures and analysis of employing a single millimeter-wave radar unit to measure human vital signs, head movements, deep tendon reflex motion, and hip movements.