Wi-Fi Transformed into Highly Accurate Medical Device for Pulse Detection by Researchers
The University of California, Santa Cruz engineering team has developed an innovative health monitoring system called Pulse-Fi. This system, built on low-cost ESP32 boards, could potentially transform existing Wi-Fi gear into a hands-free, low-cost health monitor.
In a study published in the journal IEEE Xplore, the team validated Pulse-Fi on a dataset of 118 participants, each measured across 17 body positions. The experiments demonstrated that Pulse-Fi could measure heartbeats with near-clinical accuracy, even when participants were up to three meters away.
Pulse-Fi overcomes the problem of measuring heartbeats with subtle radio wave changes by using machine learning to isolate the heartbeat signature. This makes the approach stand out, as it is not affected by changes in posture or distance.
The ESP32 boards gave strong results, and the Raspberry Pi performed even better. Commercial Wi-Fi routers could potentially push the accuracy higher, making Pulse-Fi a promising solution for widespread health monitoring.
The team created its own public heart rate dataset for ESP32 devices by setting up an ESP32 Wi-Fi link in the UC Santa Cruz Science & Engineering Library and measuring people's heart rates with a fingertip oximeter. They then taught a neural network to correlate changes in signals with heart rate using the data from the Pulse-Fi setup and the ground truth data.
Looking ahead, the UC Santa Cruz group is currently working on extending Pulse-Fi to track breathing rate and screen for sleep apnea. If refined and validated in real homes, Pulse-Fi could help people who can't afford smart wearables or don't want to wear them all day.
With an average error of about 0.5 beats per minute (BPM) after five seconds of monitoring, Pulse-Fi has the potential to provide continuous, quiet, and continuous health checks, useful for stress tracking, hydration changes, or cardiovascular risks over time. The team is also exploring ways to deploy the technology at scale for spaces with multiple people.
In summary, the Pulse-Fi system, developed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is a groundbreaking health monitoring solution that uses ordinary Wi-Fi signals to measure heart rate with near-clinical accuracy. If successful, it could revolutionise the way we monitor our health at home.
Read also:
- Emerging Fashions in Marijuana Storage: TVLPK's Attractive Gear for Cannabis Carrying
- The Distinction Between Sexual Identity and Gender Identity
- Symptoms, Prevention Strategies, and Management Methods for Measles
- Climate Change Impact Mitigation in Health: Reducing the Disparity of the Health Sector's Exposure to Climate Change Challenges
