Georgia Institute of Technology | Wildcats | ECE 4012 | Spring 2019
Georgia Institute of Technology | Wildcats | ECE 4012 | Spring 2019
MNCVSM
Continuously Measure Heart and Respiration Rate
in Real-Time Without Doctors or Contact to Skin
and View the Results on a Mobile Device
Mobile Non-Contact Vital Sign Monitoring, or MNCVSM, interfaces with a Doppler radar based vital sign monitoring system to calculate and display vital signs on a mobile device.
Early detection of life-threatening conditions is critical in determining life or death and could, oftentimes, be obtained through continuous health monitoring. However, health monitoring systems in use today often require active effort from the user, contact to skin, a medical professional for accurate measurements, or otherwise disrupt a typical person's daily routine. This may dissuade individuals from obtaining accurate, continuous measurements and, thus, limit their odds of early detection and survival. The use and development of a continuous and contact-less monitoring system like MNCVSM is vital for saving lives, both in and out of hospitals.
Hospitals, Assisted Living, and Everyday Applications
In hospitals, the MNCVSM system's contact-less feature will greatly benefit people with sensitive skin, like burn victims and infants in the neonatal ICUs. MNCVSM will allow people in assisted living homes or people with potentially life-threatening conditions, such as those who are at risk for heart attacks or who have sleep apnea, to live more freely knowing that their vital signs can always be monitored.
The Wildcats utilized the NCVSM system developed by Dr. Zhang and her Ph.D. students that uses Doppler radar technology to acquire vital sign data. This data was then processed on a microcontroller (MCU) with an on-board SDADC to determine the heart and respiration rates. Those values were then wirelessly transmitted to a mobile device via Bluetooth. Currently, only Android devices versions 5.0 or greater are supported by the MNCVSM system.
The Wildcats' MNCVSM system (right) connected to Dr. Zhang et. al.'s NCVSM system (left).
Detailed view of the MNCVSM mobile application displaying heart and respiration rate data (left) and the Bluetooth module (middle) connected to the MCU (right).
For more information, go to Documentation.
If the vital sign acquisition system is improved and compacted so that it can be portable, it can be used in search-and-rescue applications to detect signs of life. The signal processing algorithm could also be developed to handle clutter (extraneous data that is not vital signs) more effectively, allowing more freedom for the users, while still obtaining accurate vital sign measurements.
Other goals for future work in this project are to:
MNCVSM, pronounced "minickivism" or "M-N-C-V-S-M," was developed by the Wildcats from October 2018 to April 2019 under the advising of Dr. Ying Zhang and Ph.D. student Zongyang Xia for the Spring 2019 Capstone Design Expo held at McCamish Pavilion on April 23, 2019.
It builds upon the efforts of the Non-Contact Analysis of Health-Informatics via Observable Metrics (NAHOM) Team, an Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Design team at the Georgia Institute of Technology during Spring 2018.
The Wildcats at the Capstone Design Expo Spring 2019.
Pictured from left to right: Chelsi Taylor, Ethan Vargas, Nydrel Jack,
Nathanael Williams, and Arianne Perez
All the members of the Wildcats are a part of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and will be graduating in Spring 2019.
Mobile Application Developer, MCU Assistant
Major: Computer Engineering
Nydrel is from Decatur, Georgia and started his career at Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2014 as a Computer Engineering student. During his time at Georgia Tech, Nydrel has taken advanced coursework in software application development, embedded systems design, and signal processing. In addition to his academic background, he has also completed a software engineering internship with an Atlanta based medical device company, NFANT Labs where he gained skills valuable skills that translated to the Wildcats’ success this semester.
Nydrel enjoys playing pickup basketball, creating music with computer software, and attending music concerts/festivals.
Nydrel is completing his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering in Spring 2019 and is currently seeking full time employment as a software engineer.
Webmaster, User Interface Designer, Mobile Application Developer
Major: Electrical Engineering
Arianne started Georgia Tech in Fall 2015 as a student in the School of Industrial Design because of her love for the arts and design. Through her passion and schooling, she learned about the human factors in design and effective ways to ideate and then express the ideas through words, sketches, rapid prototyping, and more. She developed valuable skills like collaborating with teams, seeking advice from peers and industry experts alike, and presenting information through powerful images and text.
In Summer 2017, Arianne switched to Electrical Engineering to develop skills in programming and building functional prototypes. She has also taken an interest in electromagnetics and optics.
Arianne is completing her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2019 and is seeking employment that will combine product design, UX/UI design, electromagnetics and optics.
MCU Specialist, Wireless Communication Specialist
Major: Electrical Engineering
Chelsi started Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2015 as an Electrical Engineering student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering after transferring from Armstrong State University. Throughout her time at Tech, Chelsi has taken coursework in Microelectronics, Wireless Communications, Radar and Electromagnetic Sensing, LASERs, and Biomedical Applications, and she has had co-op opportunities with the Department of Defense and an undergraduate research assistant position with the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Her combined real-life experience and coursework made her integral in the role of Hardware Developer and Integration Engineer for the design of the MNCVSM system.
Chelsi is completing her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2019 and is currently seeking employment in hardware development/design or microelectronics.
Team Leader, Mobile Application Developer, Wireless Communication Specialist, MCU Assistant
Majors: Computer Engineering and Computer Science
Ethan focused his studies on computer architecture and internetwork communication during his time at Georgia Tech. He is an excellent team leader and keeps the morale high for the team.
Ethan is completing his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Computer Science in Spring 2019 and will be moving on to work with Green Hills Software, a real-time operating systems company.
Digital Signal Processing Specialist
Majors: Electrical Engineering and Industrial Engineering
Nathanael transferred to Georgia Tech in Fall 2015 as an Industrial Engineering major after completing an Associate of Science Degree in Engineering at Georgia Perimeter College. He added Electrical Engineering as a second major in Spring 2017. His background in Industrial Engineering encompasses an in-depth study in probability and stochastics with a focus in supply chain. His Electrical Engineering education includes many classes in signal processing, which helped prepare him for his role as Digital Signal Processing Specialist.
Nathanael’s Christian faith is what has shaped him into the man he is today. He spends a lot of time volunteering at his church, serving in both children’s ministry and student ministry. He is a passionate fan of both Georgia Tech Football and Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball. In his free time, he enjoys playing pickup basketball and volleyball.
Nathanael is completing his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2019 and will be pursuing a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering starting Fall 2019. After that, he plans to seek employment in control system design, signal processing, or data analytics.
Group Members:
Nydrel Jack njack7@gatech.edu
Arianne Perez arperez180@gmail.com
Chelsi Taylor ctaylor63@gatech.edu
Ethan Vargas evargas30@gatech.edu
Nathanael Williams nwilliams68@gatech.edu
Advisors:
Dr. Ying Zhang yzhang@gatech.edu
Zongyang Xia zxia30@gatech.edu
Disclaimer: Our advisor has asked us not to post source code to this website. If you would like to see the code, please contact Dr. Whit Smith (whit.smith@ece.gatech.edu).