11/10/11
Philips “vital signs camera” sees heart rate and breathing
Philips has developed a vital signs camera technology that makes measuring heart rate and respiration more comfortable. Instead of on-body sensors stuck to the skin or devices strapped to the body, the camera simply needs to see the person.In hospitals, monitoring heart rate and respiration is a regular part of care for many patients. While for professional athletes and many fitness enthusiasts heart rate monitoring is an important tool in helping them assess the effectiveness of their training programs. But on-body sensors and wearable devices can be inconvenient and even distressing for certain hospital patients like new-born babies.
To measure respiration, the camera detects the rise and fall of the chest or abdomen. For heart rate, the system detects the tiny changes in the color of the skin on your face that occur as the heart pumps blood through the body. These changes are imperceptible to the naked eye. And although the concept is simple, detecting them in video images is a major technical challenge. Philips has been able to overcome these challenges by drawing on its deep in-house expertise in optics, video and medical signal processing.
The camera-based approach has wide potential. Philips will be releasing an iPad2 application which will enable consumers to measure their vital signs like heart rate and respiration at home using the camera on the mobile device. Other market opportunities range from contactless heart rate monitoring in gyms or for relaxation purposes, sleep monitoring, baby monitoring at home to neo-natal care for sick babies. This patented technology is based on the combination of a regular camera and advanced video image processing techniques, which can calculate and display multiple vital signs in real-time.
The system can even monitor several people at once: they just have to be visible to the camera.
