Titan's Advanced Technologies Group (formerly Jaycor), has developed a device for remotely detecting the physiological movement associated with respiration. This completely non-contacting device emits harmless, low-intensity acoustic energy that is reflected at the surface of the skin. Both respiration and heartbeat of adults and infants have been detected at distances ranging from 1 to 12 feet. Our team invested significant resources in developing smart signal processing algorithms to discriminate respiratory motion from other common motion artifacts, such as whole body motion and air currents. Extensive tests of the ARMS have been performed on adults, as well as on infants ranging in age from one day to several months old at a major San Diego hospital. The National Institute of Health and the Navy SPAWAR/ Charleston have also provided support for development of the ARMS.

Technical Specifications

The ARMS emits harmless acoustic energy at a frequency not detectable by humans (40 kHz). This low-intensity ultrasound reflects off subjects within the range of the sensor and is detected by the sensor. Comparison of the emitted and received ultrasound waves yields information on the motion of the subject, in particular on the respiratory and cardiac rates. The device has been shown to work at distances from 1 to 12 feet.

Prototype ARMS Packaging

The ARMS is small (roughly 2 x 5 x 5 inches) and draws only about 1 watt of power (excluding signal processing). A two-part unit, with a very small (1 x 1 x 4 inch) sensor head, has been developed for neonatal intensive care applications where unobtrusiveness is important.

The signal processing is currently performed via a laptop computer for ease of development of specialized signal processing algorithms. Based on current data sheets from DSP manufacturers, the processing for most ARMS based products can be implemented using any one of a number of currently available, low-cost DSPs.