Browsing by Author "Iseri, Semih"

Sleep is a very integral part of human life. Our happiness and overall productivity greatly depend on how well we sleep. It is even more important for kids and babies as it directly affects growth and future well being. Today, it is possible to use a variety of devices to monitor sleep duration and sleep quality, helping us improve how well we sleep. However, most common sleep tracking methods require wearing an electronic device, e.g. a smartwatch or a smart bracelet, to monitor vital signs, and sleep quality information is estimated based on this information. Wearing a watch or a bracelet while sleeping is, however, considered uncomfortable by many and may not be applicable for babies. In this thesis, we study a non-invasive method for measuring the respiration rate to be used for sleep monitoring. We aim to obtain the breathing rate of an individual with no contact. We use a frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar to track chest movements and estimate the breathing rate from this signal. We use the phase component of the raw radar signal in the frequency domain to emphasize the small movements and autocorrelation function to detect the periodicity of the signal. During the study, we carried out an experiment, and we have compared our method to a traditional vital sign measurement device, and we found that our method matches the performance of the commercial device for breathing rate measurement, and outperforms it when it comes to comfort and practicality. Although it may be necessary to collect more data to better verify our results, the outcome of the experiment indicates that this method can provide the needed vital sign measurement performance without being invasive, i.e. without needing to wear any electronic devices.