mmWaveCam: Human Vital Motion Imaging and Focused Vital Signs’ Sensing

This paper presents the development and application of high-resolution radar-based imaging for human morphological analysis, specifically focusing on enhancing vital signs detection using millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar technology. The authors employ advanced 3-D radar imaging techniques, utilizing multi-element uniform linear transmit and receive antenna arrays, to construct detailed grids of radar backscatter points in space. Implementing MIMO beamforming and motion-enhanced imaging techniques address key challenges such as static environmental clutter, multi-path interference, and side-lobe effects, which degrade imaging quality. The study introduces a novel approach to vital signs analysis by constructing a vital signs intensity map, which displays the distribution of respiration and pulse sensitivity across the human chest. This method enables precise body localization for targeted vital signs monitoring. The system’s capabilities are validated through both simulation and real-world experiments, demonstrating its effectiveness in various scenarios, including multi-point respiration monitoring, multi-subject imaging, and enhanced heartbeat detection through localized measurement. The results of this study highlight the potential of mmWave radar technology for contactless health monitoring, offering significant improvements over traditional radar-based methods in terms of accuracy and spatial resolution. The advanced imaging capabilities developed in this research pave the way for innovative applications in healthcare and human performance monitoring, providing a promising tool for non-invasive vital signs sensing.