NASA / TM-2011-216145

Non-Contact Vital Sign Monitoring via 

Ultra-Wideband Radar, Infrared Video,

and Remote Photoplethysmography: Viable 

Options for Space Exploration Missions 

Christopher M. Perry, M.S.

Lincoln Memorial University – DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering Aerospace Medicine Research Clerkship

Sharmi Watkins, M.D., M.P.H. 

Element Scientist, Exploration Medical Capability

The University of Texas Medical Branch

NASA/Johnson Space Center Bioastronautics Contract

 

May 2011
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NASA / TM-2011-216145

Non-Contact Vital Sign Monitoring via 

Ultra-Wideband Radar, Infrared Video,

and Remote Photoplethysmography: Viable 

Options for Space Exploration Missions 

Christopher M. Perry, M.S.

Lincoln Memorial University – DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering Aerospace Medicine Research Clerkship

Sharmi Watkins, M.D., M.P.H. 

Element Scientist, Exploration Medical Capability

The University of Texas Medical Branch

NASA/Johnson Space Center Bioastronautics Contract

 

 

May 2011
Available from:

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7115 Standard Drive 5285 Port Royal Road

Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Springfield, VA 22161

301-621-0390 703-605-6000

This report is also available in electronic form at http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/
i

ABSTRACT

Current vital sign monitoring of astronauts utilizes cumbersome equipment that requires contact 

with the patient’s body to function properly. These systems require extended time to shave the 

subject, apply electrodes, and check the signals of the system before operation. It also requires 

that the astronaut understand the application procedures of the electrodes and data capture 

process for the system to yield usable data. This paper investigates potential non-contact vital 

sign monitoring mechanisms that might mitigate some of the current complexities. Non-contact 

vital sign monitoring includes several advantages over traditional methods because no subject 

participation is required to properly don the equipment, astronaut comfort is increased, and more 

accurate vital sign data are captured. This paper reviews the most current literature regarding 

non-contact vital sign monitoring, including Ultra-Wideband Radar, Non-Contact

Photoplethysmography, and Infrared Video as viable options for possible incorporation on future 

space exploration missions. 
ii

Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................................. 1

2. Ultra-Wideband Radar ............................................................................................................... 1

Background ........................................................................................................................ 1

Applications ....................................................................................................................... 2

Shortcomings ...................................................................................................................... 3

3. Remote Photoplethysmography ................................................................................................. 3

Background and Applications............................................................................................. 3

Shortcomings....................................................................................................................... 5

4. Video .......................................................................................................................................... 5

5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 6

6. Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... 6

7. References .................................................................................................................................. 6
1

1. INTRODUCTION

During intra- and extravehicular activities, it is necessary to monitor key physiologic biomarkers 

for astronauts. The current biomonitoring system requires contact with the subject’s skin and 

complex, cumbersome, and time-consuming preparation to properly install the devices. Noncontact health monitoring technology has improved greatly in recent years. It provides several 

advantages over contact biological monitoring. It requires no skin preparation, causes no skin 

irritation, and avoids the subtle, inherent inaccuracies caused by monitors being placed in contact 

with the skin. This report will examine Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Radar, Non-Contact 

Photoplethysmography (PPG), and Infrared (IR) Video technology as possible methods for 

future vital signs monitoring. 

2. ULTRA-WIDEBAND RADAR

Background

Early experimentation with Doppler radar for medical monitoring, while useful for stationary 

subjects, showed that movement produced by the subjects caused aberrancies in the vital sign 

data. Additionally, Doppler radar has difficulty penetrating non-metal materials such as wood, 

soil, and other media. This issue might be mitigated to some degree by using UWB radar 

technology with the addition of an adaptive filter based on heart rate and respiration parameters

(Sharifahmadian & Ahmadian, 2009). UWB radar technology was originally researched for noncooperative radar imaging for defense usage (Fowler, Entzminger, & Corum, 2002). However, 

since the 1980s, the technology has been researched to aid in rescue efforts for detection of life 

forms buried beneath rubble after natural disasters and for many other medical purposes.

Research showed that electromagnetic waves at 450 MHz and 1150 MHz could penetrate ground 

and earthquake rubble to detect buried life forms (Chen, Huang, Zhang, & Norman, 2000).

Because different tissues in the body have different dielectric properties, UWB radar allows us to 

monitor the motions and capture images of internal organs by measuring the displacement of the 

different tissues. Several emerging medical uses for UWB radar have been recently posited,

including diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (Hilton, Bates, & Godfrey, 1999), 

aortic pressure measurement (Solbery, Balasingham, Hamran, & Fosse, 2009), breast cancer 

detection (Davis, Veen, Hagness, & Kelcz, 2008), monitoring vital signs of burn victims where 

dermal monitor attachment is not practical (Higashikaturagi, Nakahata, Matsunami, & Kajiwara, 

2008), myocardial ischemia, pulseless electrical activity (Thiel, Kreiseler, & Seifert, 2009), and

infant respiratory and cardiac monitoring in an effort to reduce sudden infant death syndrome 

(SIDS) (Li, Cummings, Lam, Graves, & Wu, 2009).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and International Telecommunications UnionRadio Communications Sector currently define UWB radar as emitted signal bandwidth that 
2

exceeds the lesser of 500 MHz or 20% of the center frequency. The FCC currently allows 

unlicensed use of the UWB radar in the range of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz (Federal Communications 

Commission, 2002). The advantage of UWB radar over traditional radio transmissions lies in the 

fact that while radio frequencies vary power level, frequency, and phase to generate a signal, 

UWB radar transmits via large bandwidth over short pulse periods, typically on the order of a 

nanosecond, allowing large amounts of information to be sent in a short period of time (less than 

60 cm for a 500 MHz wide pulse, less than 23 cm for a 1.3 GHz bandwidth pulse) (Margaret, 

Anith, Duraisamy, & Muneeswaran, 2009). This type of data transfer yields more objective data 

than if one were using a single frequency. In addition to being able to transmit a large amount of 

data in a short period of time, UWB radar radiates and uses a small amount of energy compared 

to other radio technologies. UWB radar also has high spatial and temporal resolutions and has no 

compatibility issues with established narrowband systems (Thiel, Kreiseler, & Seifert, 2009).

Finally, UWB radar penetrates objects such as rubble, wood, concrete, and ground to obtain 

accurate measurements of heartbeat and respirations in those media. A recent study was able to 

determine breathing and cardiac harmonics at a distance of 1 meter while transmitting through 20 

cm of brick (Lazaro, Girbau, & Villarino, 2010).

Applications

UWB radar would allow monitoring of heart rate and respirations passively, remotely, and 

without crew requirements for set up or proper donning. Due to the unique nature of UWB radar, 

it could be possible to monitor a subject with the same equipment whether they were inside or 

outside the spacecraft while wearing clothing or protective equipment. 

A typical human heart causes chest displacements of 0.08 mm while respiration ranges from 0.1

mm to several millimeters depending upon the subject (Singh & Rmachandran, 1991). During 

heavy respiration, the third and fourth UWB radar harmonics of the breathing frequencies 

(typically between 0.2 and 0.7 Hz) can sometimes interfere with the harmonics of the heartbeat 

(0.8 and 3 Hz). This issue can be overcome with a simple canceller filter based on a moving 

target indicator or clutter cancellation system, which would effectively reduce the high-output 

respiratory signal to continually monitor the heart rate signal (Lazaro, Girbau, & Villarino, 2010)

(Chen, Huang, Zhang, & Norman, 2000). 

Current technology allows detection and monitoring of heart rate and respirations at a distance of 

up to 3 meters from the sensor (McEwan, 1998). However, most research has been conducted at 

the 1- to 2-meter range. While this distance makes single-node monitoring impractical for multicrew large spacecraft, research with multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) techniques and

multiple receivers makes coverage of large areas practical. Additionally, a combination of 

MIMO and single input, multiple output (SIMO) receivers were able to isolate input from 

multiple subjects successfully (Zhou, Liu, Host-Madsen, Boric-Lubecke, & Lubecke, 2006)

(Boric-Lubecke, Lubecke, Host-Madsen, Samardzija, & Cheung, 2005). Therefore, it would be 

conceivable to produce a MIMO/SIMO multi-receiver system that would be able to monitor 
3

heart rate and respirations of multiple crew members passively and without sensor contact while 

in or near the spacecraft.

Early research with UWB radar proved complex because of the difficulty in capturing reliable 

vital data due to the random body motion of the subjects. Incidentally, the research done with 

MIMO/SIMO multi-receiver systems has been able to cancel out the random noise caused by 

physiological motion and random movements by using more than one receiver (Li & Lin, 

Complex signal demodulation and random body movement cacellation techniques for noncontact vital sign detection, 2008). Another benefit of UWB radar is that it is not influenced by 

changes in magnetic fields (Thiel, Kreiseler, & Seifert, 2009).

Finally, UWB radar has a low radio power pulse (less than -41.3dB in indoor environments) and 

produces no ionizing radiation (Federal Communications Commission, 2002). Therefore, this 

technology could likely provide continuous non-contact remote biomonitoring with no health risk.

Shortcomings

While UWB radar has several advantages over current vital sign monitoring, there is currently no 

way to monitor subject for arrhythmias and blood pressure via UWB. Current technology allows 

for electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring via 3-lead Einthoven layout. However, UWB radar 

technology is not currently advanced in its ability to recognize arrhythmias. If utilized at this 

point, UWB radar would likely need to be supplemented with other technologies for a complete 

non-contact remote vital sign monitoring system. 

Another drawback of the current UWB radar technology is that it is more difficult to obtain vital 

sign data from people with high body fat. While studies of slim people have produced usable 

data, detection of data from overweight people is more challenging (Leib, Menzel, Schleicher, & 

Schumacher, 2010). It is possible to determine the heart rate of a person with more adipose 

tissue, though the very small motion measured on heart tissue is attenuated by the surrounding body

fat and makes the signal more difficult to interpret. While obesity is not typically an issue with the 

astronaut population, female breast tissue would likely attenuate the signal in a similar fashion.

3. REMOTE PHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY

Background and Applications

PPG was pioneered by Hertzman’s studies of microcirculation in limb extremities in the 1930s

(Hertzman, 1937). Now, pulse oximetry via PPG monitoring has become a standard of care in 

health care settings (Aoyagi, 2003). Current PPG generally utilizes light sources that must 

contact the tissues being studied, and only provides data for a few square centimeters of the 

contacted tissue. While this technology supplies important vital information, there are several 
4

conditions where dermal contact is undesired, such as damaged skin (burns, lacerations) or poor 

patient hygiene (Cennini, Jeremie, Kaan, & Van Leest, 2010).

Recent advances in PPG have shown the ability to monitor blood pressure via micro dermal

circulation with non-contact PPG and IR light-emitting diode (LED) illumination from a simple 

photodiode from distances of 20 cm to 1 meter (Shi, Hu, Echiadis, Azorin-Peris, Zheng, & Zhu, 

2009). Motion artifact is the greatest issue to overcome when attempting to monitor blood 

pressure via non-contact sensor. Motion distorts the light signals read by the PPG sensors and 

gives invalid readings. Cennini et al. showed that it is possible to measure heart rate from a 

distance of 1 meter in real time with use of a multispectral illumination device with an adaptive 

filter (Cennini, Jeremie, Kaan, & Van Leest, 2010). The multispectral illumination device 

consisted of blue and IR lights. Hemoglobin strongly absorbs the blue light spectrum while, at 

the same time, the IR light was used to determine motion artifact. The resulting signal was bandpass filtered at 0.75 to 3.5 Hz (typical heart rate range), and filtered via multiplicative coefficient 

filter utilizing Least Meant Square to minimize the error.

The classical method for monitoring UWB radar involves pulse excitation. These high-peaked 

power signals are usually expressed as swept or steep sine waves of random noise, or pseudorandom noise sequences (Sachs & Peyerl, 2001). Since this target signal is not a usable impulse 

response function, a fast Fourier transform was utilized to determine the heart rate frequency in 

real time. Any future development of non-contact PPG will likely utilize a similar dual

wavelength approach. 

Some also have begun to couple the non-contact PPG technology with high-speed digital video

cameras to produce heart rate information in a waveform, three-dimensional format (Zheng, 

Sinjung, Azorin-Peris, Chouliaris, & Summers, 2008). By collecting the information in a 

waveform, others have been able to obtain Lead II ECG-like data by interpreting signals from 

PPG monitoring devices utilizing a Windows Graphical User Interface in real time (Gomez & 

Yabar, 2010). The addition of the high-speed camera allows for non-contact monitoring of a 

larger field of view than traditionally monitored by current PPG technology. Additionally, Zheng 

et al. recently demonstrated that a multi-wavelength camera-based PPG system has been shown 

to monitor blood perfusion at different tissue depths. The camera utilized a ring illumination 

source and dual-wavelength resonant LEDs at 660 and 880 nm rather than simple LEDs (Zheng, 

Sinjung, Azorin-Peris, Chouliaris, & Summers, 2008). The reflected photons were gathered 

using a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor camera capturing 21 frames per second at 

each wavelength. While the standard pulse oximeter is able to monitor the perfusion of a few 

square centimeters, this research was able to track pulsation signals from the entire volar surface 

of the hand simultaneously in real time. 
5

Shortcomings

In the case of adults, pulse oximetry is most commonly monitored via extremity cuff devices 

such as the finger cuffs. This would be undesirable for astronauts due to the inherent loss of 

manual dexterity. New research has shown that PPG incorporated into the communications cap, 

suit, and toe monitors of research space suits did not impede astronaut dexterity (Fei, et al., 

2010). However, the incorporated PPG system would still require contact with the subject’s skin. 

Finally, PPG is not currently reliable under certain physiological conditions such as low-volume 

states, shock, or abnormal temperature conditions. The minimal research that has been performed 

concerning PPG and shock showed that the photoplethysmography waveforms were unusable for 

vital data during posttraumatic hemorrhagic shock (Natalini, Rosano, Franceschetti, Facchetti, & 

Bernardini, 2006).

4. VIDEO

While UWB radar and PPG offer some utility in the future of non-contact vital sign monitoring, 

new research in pulse detection via standard video and blind source separation is also promising. 

Poh et al. recently completed research with standard, commercial, off-the-shelf web cameras and 

were able to determine the heart rates of multiple persons simultaneously in normal ambient 

lighting (Poh, McDuff, & Picard, 2010).

One of the problems hindering UWB radar and PPG technology is the noise associated with 

motion artifact. Poh et al. used blind source separation (aka blind signal separation) to filter their 

video feeds by independent component analysis. This is a rapidly proliferating method to reduce 

this noise motion artifact that could also be applied to UWB and PPG technology. Blind source 

separation works by separating all received signals into independent signal categories without aid 

of historical signals. In other words, it separates all newly received signals based on their 

properties regardless of the historical input pattern. This allows like data to be grouped together, 

consequently marginalizing data that are lower throughput. This effectively filters the noise 

artifact from the target signal (Comon, 1994). This technology has been used effectively in ECG 

signal analysis (Chawla, Verma, & Kumar, 2008), electroencephalogram (Jung, et al., 2000), and 

fetal/maternal heart ECG signal disambiguation (Cardoso, 1998).

Poh et al. used the video camera to visualize the volumetric changes in each subject’s face with 

each pulse by monitoring the changes in ambient light. The red, green, blue colored sensors were 

able to determine the plethysmographic data in each of these color spectra and determine the 

different light-absorbing qualities of the hemoglobin as well the ambient light noise signals and 

movement. 
6

This method of non-contact pulse video monitoring was able to determine heart rate ± 2.29 bpm 

while subjects were sitting still. The system was slightly affected by the motion of subjects when 

they were allowed to tilt their heads, nod their heads, look up and down, lean forward and 

backward, and make facial expressions, talk, and laugh (± 4.59 bpm) (Poh, McDuff, & Picard, 

2010). Considering that this research was conducted with a commercial webcam, it would be 

conceivable that higher-quality cameras would yield superior pulse data. 

5. CONCLUSION

While non-contact UWB radar, PPG, and video imagery are not yet to the capability required for 

vital sign monitoring in the clinical setting or on space flight, they offer viable options for future 

research. Perhaps, individually or in combination, some of these novel technologies could be 

utilized to improve upon the current cumbersome and time-consuming methods of vital sign 

monitoring for space travel.

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Duncan Atchison, Jimmy Wu, and Dr. Ashot Sargsyan for their contributions to this 

work. Also, thanks to librarians Lisa Travis and Kim So. 

7. REFERENCES

Aoyagi, T. (2003). Pulse oximetry: its invention, theory and future. 17 (4).

Boric-Lubecke, V., Lubecke, V., Host-Madsen, A., Samardzija, D., & Cheung, K. (2005). 

Doppler radar sensing of multiple subjects in single and multiple antenna systems. 

Telecommunication in Modern Satellite, Cable and Broadcasting Services.

Cardoso, J. (1998). Multidimensional independent component analysis. Proceedings of IEEE 

Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (pp. 1941-1944). IEEE.

Cennini, G., Jeremie, A., Kaan, A., & Van Leest, A. (2010). Heart rate monitoring via remote 

photoplethysmography with motion artifacts reduction. 18 (5).

Chawla, M., Verma, H., & Kumar, V. (2008). Articles and noise removal in electrocardiograms 

using independent component analysis. Int. J. Cardiology, 278-281.
7

Chen, K., Huang, Y., Zhang, J., & Norman, A. (2000). Microwave life-detection systems for 

searching human subjects under earthquake rubble and behind barrier. 27.

Comon, P. (1994). Independent component analysis, a new concept? Signal Process, 287-314.

Davis, S., Veen, D., Hagness, S., & Kelcz, F. (2008). Breast tumor characterization based on 

ultrawideband microwave backscatter. 55 (1).

Federal Communications Commission. (2002). ET Docket 98-153. Washington, DC: Federal 

Communications Commission.

Fei, D., Zhao, X., Boanca, C., Hughes, E., Bai, O., Merrell, R., et al. (2010). A biomedical sensor 

system for real-time monitoring of astronauts' physiological parameters during extra-vehicular 

activities. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 635-642.

Fowler, C., Entzminger, J., & Corum, J. (2002, August 6). Assessment of ultra-wideband (UWB) 

technology. Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE, pp. 45-49.

Gomez, F., & Yabar, L. (2010). Design and development of prototype for obtaining indirect 

ECG Bipolar Lead II through the photoplethysmograph signal.

Hertzman, A. (1937). Photoelectric plethysmograph of the fingers and toes in man. 37 (529).

Higashikaturagi, K., Nakahata, I., Matsunami, I., & Kajiwara, A. (2008). Non-invasive 

respiration monitoring sensor using UWB-IR. IEEE International Conference on UltraWideband.

Hilton, M., Bates, R., & Godfrey, K. (1999). Evaluation of Frequency and time-frequency 

spectral analysis of heart rate variability as a diagnostic marker of the sleep apnea syndrome. 

Med. Biol. ENg. Comput., 760-769.

Jung, T., Makeig, C., Humprhies, T., Lee, T., KcKeown, M., Iragui, V., et al. (2000). Removing 

electroencephalographic artifacts by blind source seperation. Psychophysiology, 163-178.

Lazaro, A., Girbau, D., & Villarino, R. (2010). Analysis of vita signs monitoring using and IRUWB Radar. IEEE, 100.

Leib, M., Menzel, W., Schleicher, B., & Schumacher, H. (2010). Vital signs monitoring with 

UWB radar based on a correlation reciever. Bacerlona: 2010 Proceedings of the Fourth 

European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP).

Li, C., & Lin, J. (2008). Complex signal demodulation and random body movement cacellation 

techniques for non-contact vital sign detection. Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp (pp. 

567-570). Atlanta: IEEE.
8

Li, C., Cummings, J., Lam, J., Graves, E., & Wu, W. (2009, February). Radar remote monitoring 

of vital signs. IEEE Microwave Magazine, pp. 47-56.

Margaret, D., Anith, S., Duraisamy, M., & Muneeswaran, K. (2009). Cross slot antenna with 

open ended truncated patch feed for ultra wide band applications. Perundurai, Tamil Nadu: 

IEEE.

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Office.

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arterial blood pressure and photplethysmography during mechanical ventilation. Anesthesia & 

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using video imaging and blind source separation. Optics Express, 10762-10774.

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172). Weimer, Germany: (unpublished).

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detection of heart rate (HR) using ultra-widband waveforms based on principal component 

analysis. Annual International of the IEEE, (pp. 5717-5720). Minneapolis, MN.

Shi, P., Hu, S., Echiadis, V., Azorin-Peris, J., Zheng, J., & Zhu, Y. (2009). Development of 

remote photoplethysmographic technique for human biometrics. 7170 (5).

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displacement patterns on the chest wall by laser speckle interferometry. 38 (5).

Solbery, L., Balasingham, I., Hamran, S., & Fosse, E. (2009). A feasiblity study on aortic 

pressure estimation using UWB radar. IEEE International Conference on Ultra-Wideband.

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activity by ultrawideband RF-radar and interpretation applying electrocardiography. 80.

Zheng, J., Sinjung, H., Azorin-Peris, V. E., Chouliaris, V., & Summers, R. (2008). Remote 

simultaneus dual wavelength imaging photoplethysmography: a further step towards 3-D 

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Zhou, Q., Liu, J., Host-Madsen, A., Boric-Lubecke, V., & Lubecke, V. (2006). Detection of 

multiple heartbeats using Doppler radar. IEEE ICASSSP 2006.

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Non-Contact Vital Sign Monitoring via Ultra-Wideband Radar, Infrared Video, 

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Christopher M. Perry, M.S., Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering, Houston, TX

Sharmi Watkins, NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

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13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

Current vital sign monitoring of astronauts utilizes cumbersome equipment that requires contact with the patient’s body to function 

properly. These systems require extended time to shave the subject, apply electrodes, and check the signals of the system before 

operation. It also requires that the astronaut understand the application procedures of the electrodes and data capture process for the 

system to yield usable data. This paper investigates potential non-contact vital sign monitoring mechanisms that might mitigate some 

of the current complexities. Non-contact vital sign monitoring includes several advantages over traditional methods because no subject 

participation is required to properly don the equipment, astronaut comfort is increased, and more accurate vital sign data are captured. 

This paper reviews the most current literature regarding non-contact vital sign monitoring, including Ultra-Wideband Radar, NonContact Photoplethysmography, and Infrared Video as viable options for possible incorporation on future space exploration missions. .

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